


Skywalkers

by LadyKarai



Category: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Dimension Travel, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, M/M, Old Fic/Still Good, Romance, Yaoi, references to 9/11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-09 09:04:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 20
Words: 84,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5534081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKarai/pseuds/LadyKarai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leon was used to living alone and going through the motions of his easy but dull life. But when a strange blond crashed into his bushes, he was drawn into a world no human ever dreamed of.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fallen Angel

**Author's Note:**

> This story was originally posted on FanFiction in 2007, was removed due to their tendency to overreact to stories with sexual situations, and will now live in this lovely place.

_"Her heart fluttered against her chest like some wild bird as he moved in towards her. She could scarcely draw breath; his eyes stole the very air from the sky. She laid a trembling hand against her heaving breast and desperately tried to look away from those smoldering eyes._

_"'Pietro, we can't!' she protested as his fiery lips descended upon the white column of her throat. 'My father! If he finds out …'_

_"'I don't care,' Pietro whispered against her alabaster skin. 'Too long have I been forced to look at you from afar. Tonight, fair Alexandra, I will make you mine!'_

_"Alexandra gasped as he roughly drew her body to his. She could feel his manhood throbbing with need against her leg, and she could feel her own core beginning to burn as well. As he lifted her chin to claim her cherry lips, she …"_

_… ring ring! … ring ring! …_

Leon sighed and pushed away from the computer so that he could check the Caller ID on the phone. Although he welcomed a distraction from the drivel he was churning out for his editor, if the person on the other end _was_ said editor, there was no way he would answer it. Thankfully, the screen showed a different and far more pleasant number.

He lifted the receiver to his ear and hit the accept button. "Yeah?"

"Squall! How's my favorite big brother?"

Leon smiled at the energy that was always present in Sora's voice. "I'm your only brother, you idiot," he remarked. He relaxed into his chair and let the tension from producing substandard writing drain away. Somehow Sora always knew the best time to call.

The young man on the other end laughed at his comment. "Yeah, well, you're still my favorite. Oh, hey! Kairi and I were watching this cartoon the other day, and one of the characters really reminded me of you! He was this young, sexy romance novelist, and I was all like, 'Hey, that's my brother!' Except then he started screwing this bubbly, hyperactive guy, and it didn't work anymore. I mean, you wouldn't be caught dead with this guy, no matter how cute and girly he was. I picture you with someone more mature, you know. If you were to start screwing guys, that is."

Leon had listened patiently through this entire speech -- he was used to Sora going off for long periods of time on random subjects -- but when the younger man paused for breath, he jumped in. "Sora, you're rambling."

"Oh, am I?" The innocence in his voice was overwhelming.

"Yes."

"Yeah, well, I thought it was neat. You in cartoon form. Except blond."

Sighing a bit, Leon tried to get more comfortable in his work chair. The damn thing needed a reclining lever or something. "That's a pretty adult cartoon if there's gay sex involved."

"I guess," Sora conceded. "It was awfully funny, although I didn't get half the jokes since they were Japanese puns."

"Wait, Japanese? So it was an anime?"

"Um, yeah. I think that's what Kairi called it."

Leon reached out to his computer and idly booted up Solitaire. "Then you'd better not call it a 'cartoon' ever again," he commented. "You might get lynched."

"Really? I'll keep that in mind. Oh! --"

Leon resisted the urge to snort in amusement. Whenever Sora said 'Oh!' it meant he was about to seize the conversation and throw it in a different direction. At least he had the decency to vocally announce his U-turns; following the young man's train of thought was difficult enough as it was without the constant switching of tracks.

"-- Kairi wanted me to tell you that she wants a complimentary signed copy of your next book."

"Tell her I'll sign it, but she has to buy it like everyone else."

"You're so mean," Sora griped, and Leon could perfectly visualize the pout that must have accompanied it. "How's it coming, by the way?"

"That's an interesting way to inquire about a romance novel."

"Oh, shut up. How's the work going on it, then?"

"Fine."

"Breasts heaving yet?"

"Yes."

"Manhoods throbbing?"

"Yes."

"So, in other words, you're just about ready to shoot yourself from disgust."

Leon allowed another smile to take over his face. "You know me too well."

"Yeah, I do." Sora's voice faded away, and Leon sat up straighter in concern. Something in his brother's voice had set off alarms in his head. He somehow knew exactly what was coming. "But what I don't understand is why you keep writing them when you hate them so much."

 _Oh Lord, not this conversation again_. He closed down the card game and, leaning onto his knees, lifted a hand to rub at his forehead. "You know why, Sora," he replied. "It's good money. Plus, she thought I'd be good at it. She said I had talent."

"You _have_ talent!" Sora argued, just as Leon knew he would. "Which is why you should be writing meaningful stuff. You shouldn't be wasting it on stupid romance novels."

"Those stupid romance novels paid the down payment on your new car, I'd like you to know."

"Oh, shut _up_. I'd give up the car, and you know it. The point is you're wasting your life away. You're stuck in a rut, Squall." Sora took a moment for a breath, and Leon braced himself for the next question. "Have you gone out with anyone since the last time I called?"

Leon had leaned back again, and now he sank as deeply into the chair as the thing would allow. He was greatly regretting picking up the phone. "No," he admitted in a low voice.

"Have you gone out _at all?_ And I don't mean to the grocery store or something. I mean a movie or a club or something fun."

"No."

"Are you _trying_ to get me to come up there and kick your ass?"

"Look, Sora …" Leon sighed and rubbed his forehead again. Why couldn't the other just let this go? "… I appreciate your concern for me. I really do. But you just … you just don't understand. You can't understand, and I really hope you never will." He paused, allowing the pain to pass before he continued. "I don't want to go out. I don't want to look for someone else. I just …" His eyes moved on their own accord to the golden circle on his left hand. "I just want to be here, doing what I'm doing, and nothing else."

Sora had fallen quiet. When he spoke again, Leon could hear the hurt in his little brother's voice. "It's been five years, Squall."

"And for some, that's long enough. For me, it's not."

"I just … want you to be happy."

Leon ran a hand through his hair with another small sigh. "I know you do, kid. And that's why I can't really be mad at you, no matter how many times you butt into my life."

"And, you know," Sora continued, very quietly, ignoring Leon's comment, "sometimes I get to thinking, and I think that if _she_ knew how you were living right now, then she'd --"

"Sora, don't," Leon ordered sternly, his fingers gripping the receiver with a sudden desperation. "Don't you dare finish that sentence. _You_ think about her? I think about her every goddamn day. What could have been and what is instead. What has to be and what will never be anymore. Everything. Every … damn … day …"

Leon squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand, willing himself not to start crying. Sora would never understand how much it hurt. To hear about her and think about her, yes, but also simply to go through his day. To pass from one day to the next. It hurt just to live. Someone as happy as his brother could never understand. You had to experience real tragedy to even begin to comprehend.

"I'm sorry," Sora was saying, his tears evident. "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to --"

"It's okay," Leon interrupted. He inhaled slowly and forced himself back under control. "It's okay, Sora."

For several minutes, neither brother said anything. Then, Sora whispered, "I love you, Squall."

"I love you, too, Sora."

"I really messed up this call, didn't I?"

The corner of Leon's mouth twitched in a small smile. "Not too badly."

"Should I let you go back to the heaving and the throbbing?"

He snorted in a mixture of amusement and disgust; his eyes darted to the computer briefly before turning away again. "Probably."

"Okay then. I'll talk to you later."

"Yeah. Bye."

After hanging up with Sora, Leon just sat for several minutes with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. His brother only had the best intentions for him, but that didn't make it hurt any less. The problem with only wanting him to be happy was that Leon knew he couldn't be that anymore. Without her, he could never be happy; the best he could manage was content. Squall had died the same day she had -- he only let Sora call him that these days, and that was only because the young man had insisted. Now he was just Leon, writer of crappy romance novels and fantasy heartthrob to hundreds of silly schoolgirls and lonely housewives.

He sighed and closed down his computer. He didn't have the stamina to deal with Pietro and Alexandra anymore. Instead, he would pour himself a scotch, watch some mindless TV while he drank it, and then go to bed early. His editor would just have to deal.

About an hour later, Leon lay on his couch, covered in a fleece blanket, sipping the last of his scotch and watching the Giants and the Eagles smash repeatedly into each other. Outside, the wind whipped through the trees with the promise of a late-night thunderstorm. Normally, Leon would have stayed up a while to listen to it, but this evening, he stretched, yawned, and, flipping off the TV, rose to put the glass in the sink before retiring to bed.

He had just turned off the kitchen light when a huge CRACK resounded from outside. Leon inhaled sharply at the sound and immediately began searching for his shoes. He had just planted three pear trees in his front yard, and the landscaper had warned that they were still fragile while this young. A wind like this could have torn off a branch from one of them, or worse, knocked the whole tree down. Grabbing a flashlight and a light jacket, he opened the front door and went out to inspect the damage.

A light rain began to fall as Leon directed the flashlight's beam over his yard. There were the pear trees, and while they bent and shook, they still stood there with all of their branches intact. Leon frowned. What had caused the noise then? Another one of his trees? God forbid one of the older ones was about to drop a monster branch directly onto his house!

He turned and aimed the light over different places in his yard, checking the trees and the house for damage. Nothing seemed out of place. Leon sighed and was about to head back into the house when the light moved and something flashed golden for the briefest moment. Curious, Leon tried to find the spot again and, failing, moved closer to where he thought it was.

There, lying face-down in his hydrangeas, was a man. The glint of gold had come from his blond hair which fell about his face in a disheveled mess, covering a good part of the man's features. Everything else he wore was completely black.

Leon dug one fist into his hip and frowned deeply. How had a _drunk_ found his way onto his property? The nearest bar was miles away. Hell, the nearest _house_ was a five minute walk. How in hell had this guy stumbled through the surrounding forest to land in his hydrangea bushes?

"Hey," Leon growled, kicking the prone form a little, "get up. Find somewhere else to sleep it off. You'll catch pneumonia if you lie here in the rain, and I don't want to deal with the police paperwork."

The man didn't move. Sighing in frustration, Leon knelt down and proceeded to shake the man's shoulder. "Hey, wake up! I said you have to move!"

This close to the other man, Leon expected to be assaulted with the smell of alcohol, but he noticed no scent other than the rain-soaked flowers of his bushes. His shaking had moved the mess of blond hair, and he now had a better view of the other's face. Instead of the blank, stupid look he associated with drunks, the blond man's expression was tight as if with pain. Scratches from the bushes littered his face, but the lines in his forehead spoke of a greater pain than nicks from twigs. Leon sat back on his heels in surprise. This guy wasn't drunk; he was sick, or hurt, or something else entirely.

Confused, Leon let the flashlight move upwards so he could examine the bushes and the part of the house directly behind them. The plants looked bent out of shape in several places, almost as if a mass had fallen onto them and pulled them down. But not just from a standing height. It looked like someone had _fallen off of the roof_ into his bushes. How the hell had this happened?

He looked down again at the blond on the ground. He looked to be about Leon's age, maybe a bit younger, and he was grippingly handsome. He could easily have been one of the male models who graced the covers of Leon's idiot romances. Not a good fit for a Pietro, but maybe a stableboy or a young boy off to war. Something more rugged than aristocratic.

Leon shook his head violently. What the hell? He was kneeling in his front yard in the rain with an unconscious stranger before him, and he was wasting time categorizing the other's looks? What was wrong with him?

"Hey," Leon tried again, pushing aside more of that blond mass and lightly tapping the other's scratched cheek. "Come on. Wake up. It's not good for you to stay here. Come on now."

The blond only moaned slightly and shifted onto his stomach, hiding his entire face in his arms. Leon half-growled in frustration and placed his hand on the other's back, intending to shake him yet again. But as his fingers and palm pressed into the fabric, he felt something warm and sticky spreading over his skin. Shocked, Leon drew back his hand and aimed the flashlight onto it. Blood. From his wrist to the tips of his fingers.

With a violent gasp, Leon turned the flashlight back onto the blond and searched him for the source. It was hard to see because of the black fabric, but Leon could just make out a massive oval of darker color on the blond's back.

"Shit!" he breathed. That looked bad. Really bad.

Later, Leon would wonder why he didn't call the police or at least a regular ambulance. The stranger could have been a thief, a gang member, or something else equally violent and dangerous. Faced with that question, he would rationalize to himself that the nearest hospital was a twenty minute drive away and that if he had transferred the blond to his car, the extra blood loss from the movement might have killed him. However, at that moment in the rain, Leon didn't think at all. He acted purely on instinct. Running back into the house, he grabbed his phone and called his neighbor, a retired doctor.

Then, he went back outside and, thinking nothing of his own clothes, hauled the blood-soaked stranger into his arms and took him inside.


	2. Broken Wings

The bright afternoon sunlight that shone outside pushed its way past the curtains and fell in small rectangles across Leon's bed. The few that hit his pillow lit up the golden hair that lay there and made it shine like the metal it resembled. Leon himself sat across the room in a chair he had pulled in from the kitchen. He watched the stranger sleep with his legs stretched out and his arms folded across his chest.

Dr. Kadowaki had warned him that the injured man might not regain consciousness until the following day. She had given him enough medication to knock out a horse, she had said. Still, Leon felt like he should be there just in case the other came around. If he were the one waking up in a strange bed, he knew he would appreciate someone being present to answer questions. And Leon had a large number of questions of his own that he wanted answered as soon as possible. Like who this guy was, where he had come from, and what was up with that sword?

His eyes flicked to the massive weapon sitting in the corner. He hadn't noticed it last night in the dark, but this morning as he went out to retrieve the paper, he had seen it lying among the bushes, close by to where the man had been. It was nearly as tall as Leon himself and far too heavy for him to lift. He had been forced to drag it across the lawn and into the house, using an old sheet to keep it from scratching his hardwood floors. The blond in his bed had a fair number of muscles -- he had seen them when Dr. Kadowaki cut away his bloody shirt to get to the wound -- but he still had difficulty believing that anyone could actually lift and wield that monstrous thing.

Leon wanted to ask about that wound, too. It was a long vertical gash directly below his right shoulderblade. About half an inch deep, Dr. Kadowaki had said. And the skin around it had been torn in such a way that she said it didn't look like something had ripped into his back, but rather that something had been ripped out of it. While Leon had puzzled over that, she had cleaned the cut, sewn it up, and bandaged it; then she had left with an order to call her as soon as he woke up.

Inhaling deeply, Leon stretched his arms high above his head and tried to relieve some of the ache in his back. He really should be doing something other than sitting there. Pietro and Alexandra were calling. He didn't particularly care about them, but if he ignored them long enough, his editor would start calling, too, and that was always a headache. And yet, he had managed to sit there for most of the day without getting bored. Something about the sleeping stranger had managed to keep his interest.

Thanks to the painkillers floating around in his system, the blond's face had lost its anguished lines. Instead, he wore a peaceful expression that Leon considered to be calming and pleasant. More than once, he found himself comparing that blond hair to a halo, although his common sense wouldn't let the description stay for long. Even if it seemed that this man had just fallen out of the sky like some angel, he wasn't anything supernatural. There would be a logical explanation for everything -- his appearance, the wound, the sword -- just as soon as he was coherent enough to voice it. Leon knew that much about life. Things that appeared to be magical or miraculous never were; the fantasy always faded in the end.

"Unhh …"

Leon's eyes snapped up from where they had been staring at the floor. The other man had moved his head, and his brow had creased down with the first stages of waking. A second later, his eyelids were fluttering and his hand was moving underneath the sheets, trying to get free. He moaned softly again as his eyes opened a crack and his hand, finally free of its prison, lifted to his forehead.

Sitting in his chair across the room, Leon waited quietly for the traditional questions. "Where am I?", "What happened?", and the like. But for several long heartbeats, the blond said nothing. Then, he dropped his hand back to his side and commented, "I've been drugged."

Leon's mouth fell open slightly, not expecting that to be the first thing the other said. He was about to comment that it was only some painkillers when the blond's eyes snapped to him. The gaze froze Leon to his seat. The stranger's eyes were an intense blue, and they were perfectly clear, regardless of his comment of being drugged. Leon felt like he was being x-rayed or stripped apart layer by layer -- or both.

"Where's my PHS?"

He blinked, surprised and confused by the question. "What?" he asked.

"It's a small machine," the blond explained, his expression unchanging. "Looks a bit like a phone."

_Right. That thing._ Leon rose from his chair and walked over to his dresser. His fingers closed around a device that looked a bit like a Blackberry. Dr. Kadowaki had found it in the blond's pocket when she examined him. He held it up for the other to see.

"This?"

"Yes. Give it here."

The blond's sharp tone irritated Leon slightly, but he did as he was told. As soon as he had the device in his possession, the stranger began to push buttons and examine the screen. While Leon watched in perplexity from the side of the bed, the other man worked intently at the machine for several minutes, his forehead creased in concentration. Finally he sighed, closed his eyes, and seemed to relax considerably. He laid the device down on his chest.

"Everything all right?" Leon asked, mildly amused by this show.

The blond opened his eyes again and fixed him with another emotionless stare. "Yes," he answered. "For now." He attempted to sit up but found, to his obvious shock, that he couldn't.

"Whoa, whoa!" Leon cried, diving in to push the other back down again. "You shouldn't move yet. You've lost a lot of blood. Besides, if you move too much, you'll tear the stitches."

The blond peered up at him in confusion. "I was wounded?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

Another strange question, or so Leon thought. He would have asked "How?" first. "On your back. You have a nasty gash below your right shoulder."

The information seemed to mean a great deal to the blond. His eyes widened dramatically, and his face paled. Slowly, he closed his eyes and appeared to concentrate. Then, only a few seconds later, his eyes flew open again. The distress in his face made Leon inhale sharply, but it soon disappeared, to be replaced with a kind of stoic determination.

"Where's my sword?"

"Over there." Leon pointed to the insanely huge weapon in the corner.

"Bring it here," the other ordered in the same tone as before.

This time, Leon just laughed humorlessly at him. "Yeah, right. Do you know how hard it was for me to move that thing in from outside? It weighs a ton. I'm leaving it right where it is." Those blue eyes were roaming over his body, and Leon had the unsettling feeling that his strength was being assessed just by sight. "What do you want it for?" he asked in an attempt to draw those eyes away.

"I was going to ask you to cut my head off," came the casual reply. "But if you can't lift it, I guess that's out."

For several minutes, Leon could say nothing. He just stared. Then, he whispered, "Cut your head off?"

"Yes," the blond answered, unfazed. "Do you have a knife I can use instead? Or a razor? I'd rather do it quickly like a stab to the heart, but I'll slit my wrists if that's the only way."

Leon took several shaky steps away from the bed. Away from those cold, empty eyes. "You're insane," he breathed.

For the first time, the other man smiled, but it was very small and heartbreakingly sad. "No, I'm not. But I'm dead already, and I'd prefer to get it over with now rather than wait for the inevitable."

"What?" None of this was making any sense, and Leon's head was beginning to spin. "What do you mean you're dead anyway? I had a doctor here last night to look at you, and she said you'd be fine. You'll make a complete recovery."

The blond shut his eyes and turned his head away. "That's not what I meant," he murmured to the wall.

"Then what do you … ?" Leon stopped himself. Closing his eyes and pinching the bridge of his nose, he slowly counted to ten. Once he had calmed down, he opened his eyes and began again. "Look, let's start over. You're hurt, I'm tired, and we're probably both hungry. How about I go make us something to eat?"

Slowly, the blond turned back to him. He attempted a horizontal shrug. "Yeah, okay."

"Fine. I'm Leon, by the way."

"Cloud."

"All right. Nice to meet you, Claude."

"No, not Claude. Cloud." He lifted a hand and pointed to the window. "Like the white puffy things outside." His voice stayed neutral, but Leon could see the challenge in his eyes, as if daring him to laugh at his name.

However, Leon -- born Squall -- had no intention of laughing. "Your parents were hippies, huh?" he asked with a sympathetic look. "So were mine."

Cloud quirked an eyebrow at him in confusion, but Leon had already turned away. "Stay there and don't move," he ordered.

"You sure you won't bring me a knife out of the kitchen?"

"I'm sure. Now lie there and shut up."

xXx

That evening, as Dr. Kadowaki fussed over Cloud in the other room, Leon made dinner for two. It was strange how cooking for just one more person made the entire experience different. Leon found himself reaching for oils and spices that he hadn't touched in years, and before he knew what he was doing, he had made a lemon cream sauce from scratch to go with the pasta he had prepared. When it was done, he just stared at it for a while, remembering how he had cooked for her almost every night.

_"You cook, and I clean. That's fair, right?"_

"Mmm, what smells so good in here?"

Leon turned to find his neighbor standing in the doorway, her little nose high in the air in appreciation. He smiled at her and answered, "Dinner. Would you like to stay? I can boil some more pasta pretty quickly."

"No, that's all right," she responded with a wave of her hand. "I need to get home to the dogs." Her glasses had slipped, so she pushed them up before continuing, "I thought I should let you know that he looks fine. No infection yet, and the cut already looks better than it did yesterday. He's still weak, but that's to be expected. If things keep on as they are, he should be completely healed relatively soon."

"That's good to hear," Leon replied, pouring out the noodles into two bowls. He hesitated for a moment, but then decided to ask, "Did you happen to find out what he was doing in my hydrangeas?"

Dr. Kadowaki tipped her head and peered at him in a friendly but scrutinizing manner. "No. Why? Didn't you?"

"No." The metal colander clanked as he put it down on the counter a little more forcefully than normal. Turning to the doctor, he confessed, "He refuses to tell me anything. Who he is, where he came from, why he showed up in my yard. He spent the entire afternoon trying to convince me to let him kill himself." He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair tiredly. "The thing is he doesn't seem despondent or even that upset. It's more like he feels as if he has to do it. Like it's a duty or something."

The small woman in front of him pursed her lips for a moment in thought before announcing, "Well, I'm sure you'll get it out of him eventually, Leon."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You saved his life. If he's going to trust anyone, it'll be you." The warm smile she turned on him soothed away his shock and concern, if only for a moment. Then, the smile flashed into a wide grin as she turned towards the door. "Now, I need to get back to my dogs before they start tearing up my shoes," she announced. "They're such babies, the both of them. It doesn't matter how many toys I buy them; they _still_ prefer my Naturalizers." She muttered a few things under her breath, words that Leon was sure a lady should not have in her vocabulary.

When she had her hand on the knob, she paused and turned back. "Take care of Cloud, and tell him that he'd better not kill himself after all the trouble I went through of healing him. If he even tries it, I will be _extremely_ unhappy."

Leon's lips jerked up in a smile. Most people wouldn't think twice about a threat from such a small woman, but he knew better. "I'll tell him."

"Good. Have a good night, Leon."

After she had left, he loaded both bowls, two glasses of water, and silverware onto a tray and took it into the bedroom. Cloud was sitting up, supported by several pillows and rolled-up blankets, and he was staring out of Leon's window into the yard. He didn't bother to turn his head until Leon had set the food down on his lap. Then, he watched wordlessly as Leon took his own dinner off the tray and arranged himself in the chair that the doctor had recently vacated.

"Thanks," he finally said, picking up the fork.

"You're welcome."

They ate in silence, Cloud commenting only once that the food was good. Leon didn't even bother to try a conversation. The afternoon had been maddeningly frustrating. Every question had been met with a refusal to answer. Once, the blond had whispered, "I don't want to get you involved," but that was the only hint Leon had that there was anything to tell at all. It made him want to pick Cloud up and toss him out the front door, but his conscience wouldn't let him do it. Not while Cloud was still too weak to walk. Once he had recovered though, that would be a different story.

"Who's that?"

Leon lifted his head as Cloud's voice broke him from his thoughts. The blond had finished his dinner and had neatly arranged his empty dishes on the tray. His finger pointed to a framed photograph on Leon's dresser, explaining the question. Upset in spite of himself, Leon turned his eyes away from her beautiful smiling face.

"My wife."

"Oh." Cloud's eyes began to wander, and Leon knew exactly what he was doing: looking around for any signs of a woman in this house. There were none. Leon had removed them all years ago. "Are you … divorced?" the blond asked after a moment.

"She's dead."

"Oh," Cloud said again. His eyes turned to Leon, and for once they held some emotion in their blue depths. "My sympathies."

"Thank you."

"How long?"

Leon's mouth had gone dry. Cloud's eyes were examining him again. It was simultaneously terrifying and infuriating. "What?"

"How long has she been dead? I noticed you didn't want to look at the picture, but it's there all the same. When did she die? How?"

Cloud's questions sparked a kind of wild rage within Leon's chest. He narrowed his eyes and glared at the stranger in his bed. Growling, he stated, "I see no reason to share my personal pain with you when you won't tell me anything about yourself other than your name."

To Leon's surprise, the other man didn't apologize or fight back. Instead, he leaned further into the pillows and commented, "That's true. Forget it then." He looked away, out the window once more.

The sudden anger died away just as quickly. Truly, Leon had no idea what to make of this man. It was the most frustrating thing he had ever experienced.

Quietly fuming, Leon rose and placed his own empty dishes on the tray. As he picked it up and moved to take it back to the kitchen, Cloud reached out a hand and grabbed his wrist. Leon glanced down to find that the blond wasn't even looking at him.

"When I'm well enough to move again," he said absently, "I'll do some work around the house for you. Clean up or something. It would only be fair." Finally, the eyes moved, and they locked with Leon's. "Right?"

_"That's fair, right?"_

Leon shut his eyes against the tears and turned away. "Yeah." He shook off Cloud's hand and walked forward, concentrating on not dropping the dishes as a way to keep his mind off of her. But at the door, he suddenly had the strange desire to tell Cloud what the other had wanted to know. No, it was more than a desire. It was an actual need.

"Five years."

"What?" Cloud asked, not following the jump in conversation.

"She died five years ago. We had only been married for eight months."

Silence filled the room for a moment; then Cloud repeated, "My sympathies."

Leon could only nod as he disappeared into the kitchen to clean up the mess he had left there.


	3. Cracks in the Wall

He stood once again in the darkened dance hall, drink in hand, staring down at his feet. All around him, the rest of the entering freshman class chatted and danced and laughed and generally had a good time. He ignored all of it. He hated social gatherings. The only reason why he had come was because his roommate had dragged him.

_"Hey."_

He looked up at the voice and found a girl in front of him. She smiled sweetly and took a step closer.

_"You're the best-looking guy here. Dance with me?"_

His heart leapt with recognition. _Yes, of course I'll dance with you._ But his body remained still, and his eyes looked away.

_"I see. You're one of those guys who'll only dance with someone they like, right?"_

She shrugged and made to turn away, but at the last second, she whirled back and clasped him by the shoulder with one hand. The other waved in front of his eyes as if trying to hypnotize him.

 _"You're going to liiiike me. … You're going to liiiike me. …"_ She tipped her dark head to one side with a playful smile. _"Did it work?"_

 _Yes, it worked. I love you so much. I miss you every day._ But, just as he had done in real life, he only shrugged a bit and ground out, "I can't dance."

He knew what was supposed to happen now. She was supposed to ignore his protests and drag him to the dance floor where he would discover to his surprise that he _did_ know his left foot from his right. And then he would dance the next song with her, and the next, and at the end of the night she would force her number on him which he would find himself calling the very next day for reasons he didn't understand.

But she didn't reach for his hand. Didn't smile and roll her eyes slightly. Instead, her face blanked out, and she slowly turned away.

_"All right then. See ya."_

His internal self gasped. No, this wasn't how it was supposed to go. Desperately, he tried to reach out to her, to call her name as she walked away, but she just kept going and his body returned to staring dully at the floor.

_No. Don't go. Please. Rinoa …_

And then her voice whispered that terrible sentence into his head yet again.

_"I don't think I'm going to make it, Squall."_

The ceiling above them crashed down, and he could hear nothing but her screams.

"Rinoa!"

Leon jerked awake with her name caught in his throat. He blinked into the half-light for several frenzied heartbeats before his brain kicked in and told him it had been a dream. For the next few minutes, the haze continued to fall away from his senses, and when it had finished, he cursed softly to himself. Would these nightmares never end?

"Hey, you okay?"

A concerned face framed by golden hair hung above him, only a few feet away. Leon stared at it for a moment and let the situation return to his sleep-addled mind. That face belonged to Cloud. Cloud was in his bed because he was injured. Leon was on the floor, on the air mattress that Sora used when he visited. And Leon had slept in the same room rather than somewhere else just in case Cloud needed anything during the night. Right. That all seemed to fit.

"Leon?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," he finally replied. His voice sounded scratchy and deeper than normal.

"Because you looked like you were having a nightmare."

"I _was_ having a nightmare."

"Oh. All right."

Leon glared up at those blue eyes which continued to examine him. Any normal person would have inquired as to the nature of the nightmare or tried to soothe him. But not Cloud. Nothing about the blond could be considered normal. Although, as Leon thought more about it, he was rather grateful that the other had not pried. He was usually a rather reserved person, too, so it felt almost nice to have Cloud accept his explanation without further questions.

After a minute where all they did was stare at each other, Leon remarked, "You rolled over by yourself."

"Yes, I did."

"Does it hurt?"

"A bit, but I'm dealing with it."

"All right then."

And the conversation died again. That tended to happen a lot with Cloud. But this morning, instead of grasping about for a way to start it up again and preferably guide it towards finding out Cloud's secret information, Leon let himself just enjoy the quiet. The blond seemed to be busy looking at him, so he returned the favor. Cloud really did have a perfect face for one of his sex-hungry heroes. Apart from the scratches on his cheeks, his skin was smooth and unblemished. His hair would look great in one of those fake wind-blown shots. And Leon could probably write pages about those eyes and what they would do to some unsuspecting virgin.

He was debating on the best way to romanticize their color -- cerulean? No, aquamarine -- when Cloud's finger suddenly appeared between his own dull-colored eyes.

"How'd you get this?"

It took Leon a minute to realize the other man meant the scar that traveled downwards across his nose. Gently, he raised his own fingers to trace it. "My little brother, Sora, gave this to me when we were kids. We were playing ping-pong at my grandparents' house, and he got mad. He threw the paddle down on the table, but it bounced." He smirked slightly at the memory. "It bounced just perfectly, and it smacked me here between the eyes. I'm lucky I wasn't blinded."

For some reason, Cloud's eyes had darkened, and he chewed his lip a little as if in thought. After a hesitant breath, he asked, "Ping-pong. Is that some kind of game?"

Leon blinked at him. He didn't know what ping-pong was? "Um, yeah," he replied with more than a hint of disbelief in his tone.

"Yeah, thought so," Cloud said hurriedly, clearly embarrassed. "Okay then." And suddenly he was pushing himself upwards with his hands, his face contorting with the effort of moving.

"Hold on!" Leon cried, bolting upright. "What are you doing?"

"Sitting up," the other replied calmly even though his brow was breaking into a fine sweat. "I thought I'd visit the bathroom."

Leon quickly got to his feet and grabbed onto Cloud before he could stand. "Okay, stop that. You are not well enough to walk on your own."

"Then I'll crawl," Cloud returned, trying his best to shake Leon's hands off of him. "I put up with this nonsense yesterday, but I am _not_ going to be treated like a little kid anymore."

"Oh for chrissakes," Leon growled. Abandoning all pretense of treating the other with dignity, he pulled Cloud to his feet, used one hand to wrap an arm around his neck, and grabbed onto the blond's hip with the other. When Cloud began to protest again, he interrupted harshly, "You're not a child; you're _injured_. You have a goddamn six-inch gash on your back. If the doctor and I say you're not walking, _you're not walking_."

For a moment, Cloud just stood there in shock. Then, he smiled very slightly and commented, "You're grouchy in the morning, aren't you, Leon?"

Leon stared him straight in the eye and answered, "Fuck you."

"I thought I was injured," the reply came straight back.

Now it was Leon's turn to stand in shock. But as he did so, Cloud's smile widened ever so slightly, and he soon found himself smiling back. And then they were both laughing, Cloud hanging onto Leon's shirt with his other hand to keep from falling.

When they had recovered themselves, Leon helped Cloud over to the bathroom and through the door. Once there, Cloud used the sink to ease himself over to the toilet. After watching a minute to make sure the other didn't fall, Leon closed the door and then leaned against the wall to wait.

"Sure you don't want me to come prop you up?" he called with a smirk.

"No thank you. My pride was damaged enough yesterday as it was."

"All right, but if I hear a splash, I'm coming in."

"Sweet Shiva, I think if you had your way, you'd hold it for me."

Leon chuckled at that and had thrown back a "I just might," before he realized what he had just heard. Wasn't Shiva a Hindu god? Was Cloud Hindu? With his coloring and features, he looked like a classic WASP. Leon knew that eastern religions were "in" these days, especially with celebrities, but that didn't seem to be Cloud's style. So where had that oath come from?

Leon frowned to himself. _Just who is Cloud? God, it's driving me crazy._ He felt himself tensing up with frustration, so, with great effort, he forced himself to let it go. Cloud would tell him when and if he was ready. As much as he hated to admit it, he would simply have to wait.

xXx

It could no longer be avoided. Pietro and Alexandra simply had to be dealt with. As he stood before the computer, Leon sighed and accepted his fate. He had left Cloud in the other room, asleep, and now it was time to earn his living. Slowly, Leon lowered himself into his work chair and once again dove into the frilly, flowery world of his chosen profession.

Somewhere in the middle of the obligatory sex, he realized he was enjoying writing the scene far more than he usually did. Alexandra had begun to take the form of his beloved wife in his mind, and for the first time in years, his own experiences had some say in his writing. Pietro made her gasp and writhe on the computer screen, but in his head, he was making love to Rinoa again. The words came out with an easy flow, and all he had to do was change the names and edit the personal descriptions. Little memories came back to him -- the sounds she made, the way her head moved in pleasure, the rhythm of her breathing -- and they all found their way into his manuscript. When the two lovers finally came together in a blaze of cherubs and violin music, Leon sat back in his chair, amazed at himself.

Where the hell had that come from? For the first few novels he had written, he had tried to do this very thing, but the memories had been too painful. After a while, he had given up on trying. But now, for no reason, they had all come pouring back and out of his fingers without the slightest trace of hurt. In fact, he felt warm inside, like she had just wrapped her arms about him from behind. And when he reread his work, he actually felt _impressed_ by what he had done. Stupid romantic clichés aside, it was a decent piece of writing and something of which to be proud.

Leon propped his head in one hand and stared at the computer screen, unseeing. What had changed? Nothing, as far as he could tell. Except that he had volunteered information about Rinoa to Cloud last night. He blinked a bit at the thought. Was that all it was? He had offered up a bit of his pain, and therefore it had lessened. No, he had talked to many people about his loss since her death, and none of them had helped in the slightest. Cloud, however, was different. Unlike all the others, the strange blond had not fussed over him or tried to get him to cry or told him to move on or any of that. Cloud had just listened and then offered sympathies. Was that really all that Leon had needed?

A crash from the other room interrupted his musings. As Leon leapt to his feet and rushed to the door, he heard a string of low-voiced curses follow on the tail end of the original noise. The sound made him smile slightly. At least Cloud felt well enough to swear. He opened the door, expecting to have to clean up at least something.

Sure enough, half of his bookcase lay on the floor. In the center of the mess sat Cloud with Leon's leather-bound book of Dickens in one hand and one of his trashy novels in the other. Leon could just picture what had happened: Cloud, being bored, had hauled himself out of bed and tottered over to the bookcase. He had selected the Dickens to read, but the heavy tome had knocked him off-balance. Cloud had instinctively reached out to stop his fall and had instead brought down half of the books with him. Once the dust had settled, he had picked up a book, intending to start piling them up, but had stopped upon seeing the name embossed in swirly gold lettering upon the cover.

Noticing Leon in the doorway, Cloud lifted his eyes, locked gazes with him, and held out the romance, demanding, "Is this you?"

For the moment, Leon ignored him. "I thought I told you you weren't walking today."

"I was bored out of my skull. Is this you?"

Leon briefly considered saying that no, the young man with windswept ebony hair who had his nose practically buried in the ravished-looking blonde's cleavage was not, in fact, him. He thought better of it, however, and answered, "Yes."

"Your last name is Heartilly? Are you _serious?_ That has to be a pseudonym."

With a small smile at the disbelief in Cloud's voice, Leon knelt down and began gathering up books. "Heartilly was my wife's maiden name. I took it when I changed my name to Leon. I agree, though, it is rather amusing for a romance writer."

"Changed?" Confusion pulled the other man's brows down in a expression Leon found pleasantly familiar even after only two days.

"Yeah. I was born Squall Leonhart. Leon Heartilly was my pen name, and then I just decided to go by it everywhere."

"Oh." Setting down the Dickens next to him, Cloud flipped the paperback book over and began reading the summary on the back.

"What's your last name?"

"Strife."

"You're kidding."

Cloud's eyes snapped up and flashed threateningly. "No, I'm not. Why would you think that?" The challenge was there again. That dare to make even the slightest bit of fun of his name.

Leon rose to his feet, arms full of books, and looked down on his impromptu houseguest. Cloud Strife. Like a thunderstorm. Fierce, unapproachable, and a touch dangerous. And yet beautiful to look at. It fit him well.

"No reason," he answered gently and turned away to put the books back.

Cloud stayed silent while Leon finished cleaning up the mess, but when he held out his hand for the romance novel, the blond smirked up at him and shook his head. "Nah, I think I'll read this one."

"Oh no," Leon groaned. "You _can't_."

The smirk widened at the embarrassment in his voice. "Why not?"

"It's awful."

"It was good enough to publish."

"Have you _seen_ the garbage in the bookstores these days?"

"Can't say I have," Cloud positively grinned. He pulled the cover back and acted as if he were going to read it right there on the floor. "Don't worry," he added. "I like smut."

Sighing in defeat, Leon leaned down and helped the other man to his feet. As he guided him back to bed, he commented, "If you like that, you'd better check yourself for tits."

A snort escaped Cloud, but he quickly turned it into a cough. "I'll keep that in mind," he replied seriously. Once Leon had propped him up with pillows again, he lifted his head and asked, "Can I get a glass of water?"

"Sure," Leon replied. He fussed with a pillow for a moment more before turning away. As he closed the door, he heard Cloud repress a snort of laughter, presumably at his writing. Shaking his head, he made his way to the kitchen.

As he took a glass down from the cabinet, a thought occurred to him. It actually felt good having someone to take care of. He felt useful and needed, even considering Cloud's furious independence. Perhaps, when Cloud left, he would get himself a pet. Sora had been encouraging him to get one for years, but Leon had always resisted. Now, he wondered if he would in fact benefit from an animal.

When Cloud left. Leon paused in the act of turning on the tap. Why did that thought make him a little sad? Of course Cloud would leave. He had come from somewhere, even if he refused to tell Leon where that was, so he would obviously go somewhere eventually. Hell, Leon wanted the irritating man out of his house so that he could go back to his normal life. He had, after all, been perfectly content living alone, writing trash novels, and letting the rest of the world go by him. Cloud was nothing but a pain in his ass.

But still, it was nice to have company. And not the normal chatty company that he was used to from his brother. Cloud was quiet, reserved company. Someone much like Leon himself. That was company that Leon could get very used to very quickly.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Leon filled the glass with water and walked out of the kitchen. He was thinking far too much. If he wasn't careful, he would blow up this situation of his into some complicated drama worthy of one of his novels, and if that ever happened, Leon swore he would shoot himself.


	4. Skywalker

Two days passed, and Cloud steadily improved. Soon he was well enough to shower by himself and eat meals at the table. Dr. Kadowaki brought over a pair of crutches and a cane for him and teased that she had an old walker at home if he wanted that, too. He took the jibe in stride and accepted the cane, sending the crutches back with her. In spite of the blond's progress, Leon insisted that he sit as much as possible. Cloud got revenge by demanding to read more of Leon's books, and soon the blond was quoting his inane dialogue whenever he had the chance.

Leon realized by the end of the second day that, while the other man drove him up the wall, it was becoming harder and harder to accept that he wouldn't be there much longer. Cloud made him laugh on a regular basis, and no one had been able to do that in years. Emotions he had thought had died were resparking; having Cloud around was -- dare he think it? -- fun. Even writing his idiot romances was more enjoyable, because as he typed out the exaggerated sappy stuff, he could hear Cloud's laughter in his head, almost egging him on.

Sora called on the fourth day, and he immediately noticed that something had changed. "You sound different. Did you actually go out? Oh my god, did you _meet someone?!?_ "

Leon skirted around all of his little brother's questions and hung up as soon as possible.

And yet, while his days were increasingly enjoyable, Leon's nights became forays into the worst depths of Hell. She haunted his dreams, forcing him to relive moment after moment. The memories always started off pleasantly -- sweet snapshots of their young life or their brief marriage, times when they were blissfully happy -- but each dream ended the exact same way: that horrifying phone call and the collapse of whatever structure they occupied. Each time, he would wake thrashing and screaming and terrified beyond words.

On the fifth night, he broke. The dream had been particularly dreadful. Rather than witnessing her death symbolically as he had in all the others, he had watched it unfold just as it had really happened. Listening to her frightened voice on the line, feeling wholly, utterly helpless. Waiting, praying for someone to help her since he could not. And then, kneeling on the living room floor, phone discarded by his side, pressing his hands against the TV screen and screaming her name over and over. He woke with that last image and the emotions it brought burned into his mind and body. The sheer horror of it drove him into a fit of sobbing and trembling, and he curled in on himself on the mattress, clutching himself around the waist desperately.

The bed beside him creaked, and he heard the movement of feet as they came around to his front. A hand touched him gently on the shoulder and then withdrew. Cracking his eyes open, Leon saw Cloud kneeling beside him on the floor. The blond just looked at him with kindness and sympathy in his still-sleepy eyes. He didn't say anything or try to comfort Leon physically. He simply sat, offering his presence for whatever it was worth. As Leon closed his eyes again and worked through the sobs racking his body, he realized that it was exactly what he wanted and needed. Someone to just be there.

Several minutes later, when Leon had calmed down and was slowly breathing in and out, Cloud struggled to his feet. He looked down at Leon, still curled up under the sheets, and said quietly, "Follow me." Not waiting for a response, he turned and began walking, very slowly, to the door.

Dazed, Leon unfolded himself. By the time he had risen to his feet, Cloud had made it to the hallway, although he had stopped just outside the door to catch his breath. Leon walked over to him. The blond caught his eye once and nodded in satisfaction before continuing his fight down the hall. Not once did he look back, although he stopped a few more times to rest. Leon just walked behind him, stopping when he did, and waited to see where they were going.

Eventually, they reached the kitchen and Cloud hauled one of the chairs away from the table. "Sit," he ordered. While Leon complied, the other moved to the cabinets and rummaged around until he had found Leon's teapot. He filled it and put it on to boil, then went searching for the mugs, spoons, and the tea bags themselves. Leon watched all of this with a muted sense of gratitude. After all the nursing that Leon had done over the past few days, now Cloud was taking care of _him_. Whether out of a feeling of debt, compassion, or a kind of affection, Leon didn't know, but it didn't really matter. It felt so good to sit there and have someone fuss over him for a change.

The steaming mug landed in front of him before he knew it, and there was Cloud sitting across from him, an identical mug in his hands. Gently, Leon wrapped his fingers around the warm ceramic. It soothed him, more than he thought possible.

"They sound bad," Cloud commented quietly.

Leon inhaled slowly before he admitted, "They're about her."

"I guessed."

Something about the gentle concern in Cloud's voice wrung Leon's heart. He felt something in him opening and pushing against his chest as if trying to get out. Fresh tears were filling up his eyes, but they felt different from the sharply stinging tears he always shed.

"She … she …"

"Don't," Cloud interrupted him. Leon lifted his head and found the blond half-reaching out to him. "I mean," he amended, pulling the hand back, "talk if you want to, but don't feel like you have to just because I asked."

"No," Leon said with a small shake of his head. "I want to."

"Then … I'll listen."

Leon took a breath, opened his mouth, and talked. Everything came pouring out. How they had met, their courtship, their marriage, and their brief time together. Her laughing voice and joy-filled eyes. Everything he loved about her and a few of the things he didn't. Every aspect of her appearance, down to the jewelry she liked to wear. The way she liked to tease him and the way he would tease her back by refusing to respond until she was practically jumping up and down from frustration.

His tea went cold as he talked and talked and couldn't stop.

Cloud just listened.

Eventually, the words slowed down and then ceased. He had talked his throat raw, but he didn't care. He felt an odd sense of calm unlike anything he had experienced before. Suddenly tired, he glanced sideways at the clock on the stove. A little before 5:30 in the morning. He had talked for nearly an hour.

"She sounds wonderful."

"She was."

"You loved her very much."

"I did. I still do." Leon ran one finger around the rim of his cup and then over the curve of the handle. "I haven't told you how she died yet."

"You don't have to."

"I know, but it's all right." Carefully, deliberately, Leon made the words come out. "She had an interview. She had been trying to get this investment banking firm to hire her for months. Finally, they seemed interested, and they asked her to come in to talk to them. So she went. To the World Trade Center."

He paused and waited. Waited for Cloud's reaction. A gasp or a murmur of recognition. Something. When nothing came, he lifted his eyes to the blond. Cloud was looking at him expectantly.

"And?" he prompted.

Leon blinked a few times. He didn't understand? "It was 9/11."

"Oh." Cloud looked down for a minute. His expression remained neutral, not a shred of comprehension in his features. When his eyes came back up again, he asked, "AM or PM?"

Everything stopped. Leon felt like he was in vacuum -- no sound, no movement, no _air_. The total shock that was consuming him made it impossible to do anything but stare. Very slowly, he forced his voice to work and choked out, "September 11, 2001. The day anti-American terrorists flew two planes into the North and South towers. They went up in flames and eventually collapsed completely."

Cloud's eyes widened, and finally emotion filled his face. But it wasn't sympathy or sadness. It was panic. He had realized his mistake. That Leon's wife had died in a national tragedy that everyone in the country, quite possibly everyone in the _world_ , had heard of and would recognize instantly. That his simple question had damned him because he absolutely should have known.

"Oh," he said.

Both mugs jumped and clattered as Leon's palms came down forcefully on the table. He leaned across it until his face was inches away from the blond's. "Who _are_ you?" he demanded. "You fall into my bushes out of nowhere with a huge ass sword and a handheld computer-thing that you check at least five times a day -- Don't give me that innocent look! I've seen you! You didn't know what ping-pong was, and you use swear words I've never heard of. Okay, both of those I might have been able to ignore, but now you're telling me that you don't know about 9/11? What planet are you _from?_ "

Cloud blinked at him, guilty and cornered. Leon could see him trying to come up with an answer, something to say or a way to escape. Eventually, he managed to murmur, "Even if I told you, you wouldn't believe me."

Leon's fingers curled into fists as they rested on the tabletop. "Try me," he growled.

Cloud resisted for a moment more, but then his eyes lowered and he whispered, "Fine." A second later, those eyes rose again, dramatically changed. They were serious, strong, and intensely gripping. "What planet am I from?" he repeated calmly. "Not this one."

At that statement, spoken so gravely and sincerely, Leon's anger began to drain away, leaving bewilderment behind. He swallowed several times before asking sardonically, "You're an alien? A little green man from Mars?"

That familiar smirk turned up the corners of Cloud's mouth. "No, not from Mars, but I guess you _could_ call me an alien. More specifically, I'm a Skywalker."

"Skywalker," Leon repeated, straightening up again. Scenes from _Star Wars_ flashed through his mind. "You mean, 'Luke, I am your father'? That kind of thing?"

"I have no idea what that means," the other answered evenly, "so probably, no. Sit down, and I'll explain."

Slowly, Leon did as he was told. He couldn't help but wonder if somehow he was still dreaming. Logically, a situation like this could not be happening, not in real life. But the honesty in Cloud's eyes was compelling, and it was slowly drowning out the voice in his head saying that the blond was insane or delusional. Leon's common sense crumbled before the gravity in the other's face, and he couldn't help but listen and pretend, if just for that moment, that everything Cloud was saying was real.

"Skywalkers are dimension-travelers. We're actually from a bunch of different planets, but we've all undergone the same transformation to give us the ability to move from one dimension to the next. The planet I live on is not the one where I was born. That one was destroyed. A handful of us were rescued beforehand, and we all became Skywalkers." He paused for a moment to scowl. "I didn't want to become one, but the one who rescued us forced me. That's actually kind of the reason why I ended up in your bushes. I ran from him. I couldn't take it anymore, living like that, so I searched for an opportunity to escape, and when I found it, I took it."

Cloud paused again and threw an appraising glance in Leon's direction. "You think I'm crazy, don't you?"

"To be honest," Leon answered quietly, "yes."

"Yeah, well, can't say I blame you." He shrugged. After a pause, he sighed, rose from his chair, and remarked, "Might as well prove it to you."

Leon opened his mouth to ask just what that meant, but before the words could come out, Cloud had closed his eyes in concentration, much like he had the afternoon he had first awoken, and the air behind him seemed to shimmer and shift. The light bent, the shadows peeled off of the walls, and before Leon could remember how to gasp in surprise, a single black-feathered wing had pushed its way out from Cloud's left shoulder and unfurled itself half-way across his kitchen. The blond opened his eyes, and for the briefest moment, they glowed emerald green before returning to their normal blue.

He smirked cockily, seemingly loving the expression on Leon's face. "So? What do you think?"

Leon's eyes were so wide he felt like they were going to fall out of his head. The connections in his brain were snapping one by one at the very real, very impossible thing right in front of his eyes. He alternately swallowed and cleared his throat a few times and then commented with frightening calm, "Cloud, you have a wing."

"I know," he replied. Reaching out with his hand, he caught the end of it and brought it closer so he could inspect it. Meticulously, he smoothed out a few feathers and added with a slight frown, "There are supposed to be two."

A wave of nausea hit Leon hard. That six-inch gash in Cloud's back. Like something had been ripped out of him. "That wound …" he began.

"Yeah," Cloud nodded. He folded his arms and remarked, "That was entirely my own fault. I thought that by waiting until the last possible second to jump from the path, it would reduce the chance of leaving a fingerprint. It worked: I've been monitoring the path since I got here, and while the activity has increased due to them searching for me, they haven't gotten close to this fold. Unfortunately, during my wild exit I lost control for just long enough to get my right wing pinched, and it must have torn out when I jumped. Which means now I'm stuck."

The technical terms had flown over Leon's head, but he had absorbed enough to get the general idea. Cloud's last comment, however, surprised him. "Stuck?"

"Stuck," the blond repeated. The wing fluttered slightly, and Leon realized Cloud was moving it like he would an arm or leg. "I need both of them to skywalk," he explained sadly. "So I'm stuck here whether I like it or not."

Details were beginning to click together in Leon's head. "Is that why you said you were already dead?" he asked. "Because if this guy you're running from does find you, you can't escape to a different dimension?"

"Exactly. And I'd much rather die than go back to that life." He sighed and made a movement to retract the wing, but Leon stopped him.

"Wait! Can I … ?" His voice died when the blue eyes stared at him questioningly, but he gathered up his courage and pushed forward. Everything he knew had been turned upside down, but if he could do this one thing, it would help him start to accept. "Can I touch it?"

Cloud blinked, surprised, but then he shrugged. "Yeah, okay."

Hesitantly, Leon rose from his chair and walked over to the large wing. It looked just like a stereotypical angel wing except for the color. Carefully, he extended a single finger and ran it down one of the long feathers. It was a feather -- nothing more, nothing less. Feeling a bit braver, he uncurled his hand and used all five fingertips to smooth the feathers down. They felt so delicate and soft against his hand. Smiling in spite of himself, he pressed a little harder and felt the feathers run along the lengths of his fingers while the tips made contact with the flesh beneath. It was absolutely unreal. He was standing in the middle of his kitchen, the morning sun just beginning to peek through the curtains, running his fingers again and again along the wing of a living angel.

A soft sigh stilled his hands. He turned his head and found that Cloud had closed his eyes and lowered his chin, an expression of contented serenity on his face. His cheeks were slightly pink, and he breathed slowly through his nose. He looked just as angelic as his wing suggested. Leon felt a tremor in his stomach at the sight of that face. Part protective desire to shield that expression from harm, and part selfish urge to keep it and not share it with anyone.

But then Cloud opened one eye and stared at Leon pointedly, and the spell promptly broke.

"I'm sorry. Did I overstep my bounds?"

Cloud opened the other eye and shook his head. "No, it's okay."

"But if it bothered you …"

"It's no more uncomfortable or embarrassing than having your hair petted," the other assured him. He turned his head and stared off at something only he could see, giving Leon a perfect view of his sharp profile. "I owe you that privilege," he remarked quietly. "And more." Even though he momentarily fell silent, Leon realized he had more to say and waited patiently. After a few heartbeats, Cloud continued, "It's been a long time since I had something to smile about, much less laugh. I definitely owe you for all the nursemaiding you did, but I'm also grateful for the other stuff. These past few days, I've actually felt something close to happiness, and it's been a really long time since I've felt anything like that. Thank you."

Leon swallowed hard. Cloud's confession sounded so much like his own situation. It tore at his heart and made him want even more to protect that momentary expression of peace. Standing there, gazing at that fierce, independent profile, Leon made a sudden, powerful vow to himself. If Cloud had fled from a life he hated, Leon would help him find one he loved. If he had nowhere to go and no one to call friend, Leon would give him both home and company. It no longer had anything to do with being a good Samaritan; he wanted to do it, more than he had wanted anything in a very long time.

Feathers touched the back of his hand, startling him. His eyes refocused to find blue ones looking directly into them. Cloud had brushed up against him to pull him from his reverie. He was waiting for Leon's reaction, a mild anxiety creasing his forehead ever so slightly.

"You're welcome," Leon smiled. Slowly, Cloud's lips formed into a return smile, and Leon felt that flutter in his stomach again. "Now, how about I make us some breakfast?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

"You'll have to put the wing away then. It's blocking the refrigerator."


	5. Stay

"Holy Ifrit with a flamethrower!"

The knife slipped from Leon's hand and spun across the counter to the floor. A good thing, too, or he might have sliced off one of his fingers. He turned on his heel and shouted into the living room at Cloud, "What's the matter?"

"That dog can talk!"

It took Leon a minute to understand, but once he had, he could barely stand from laughing. "It's just a commercial, Cloud," he managed to yell.

"But it's singing! The puppy is singing about not having fleas!"

Leon had to grip the edge of the counter to keep from falling over. A minute or so later, Cloud appeared in the doorway, glaring at him darkly.

"You're laughing at me."

After several unsuccessful attempts at speaking, Leon settled for nodding to say that, yes, he was indeed laughing at Cloud.

The revelation of Cloud's secret had changed everything. Not their relationship, that had pretty much stayed the same. But now the blond no longer had to hide the fact that he basically knew nothing about half the gadgets in Leon's house. The TV and computer he understood, but the actual programming on the set, especially the commercials, boggled his mind. The kitchen gadgets fascinated him, too. In particular, the can opener had hypnotized him. Leon had walked outside in his usual manner to fetch the morning paper, and by the time he had returned, Cloud had opened two cans of cream of chicken soup, three cans of stewed tomatoes, one can of kernel corn, and a can of tuna.

"So the puppy can't really sing?" the blond asked sadly after Leon had explained.

"No, Cloud."

"It's all just camera tricks?"

"Yes, Cloud."

He crossed his arms over his chest and positively pouted. "Well, that's disappointing."

Leon couldn't help himself; he started laughing again. It was just too adorable. Up until then, Leon had only seen the harsh side of Cloud. The side with a gaze so piercing and sharp that it could slice through steel. But to see those exact same eyes widening and softening with wonder at the small spinny wheel that could cut through metal or the little lab that sang about the wonders of its medication … . Leon could think of no other word; Cloud was damnably cute.

"Are you _quite_ finished?" Cloud asked once Leon had yet again regained control of himself.

"Yes. This time I think I am."

"Good. I need you to come back and explain these penalty things to me again." He reached out, grabbed one of the nachos that Leon had been making, and popped it into his mouth.

"Don't eat that yet!" Leon cried, shooing his hand away as it tried to grab another. "I haven't cooked them!"

"They still taste good."

Sighing, he bent down to pick up the knife that had escaped from him and threw it into the sink with a clatter. As he searched for another that was about the same size, he asked, "What don't you understand?"

"Why is it called one thing if the team with the ball twitches, but it's called something else if the team without the ball twitches?"

"Because it's an entirely different rule," he answered with a small smile. He had introduced Cloud to football. The other man had been quite interested in the sport, but the exact details of the rules eluded him. He didn't understand why they didn't just crash into each other until one team couldn't move anymore. That sport, Leon had told him, was called rugby.

As he began cutting onions again, Leon explained, "The offensive line isn't allowed to move at all, so if they twitch, it's called a false start. The defensive line is allowed some movement, but they aren't allowed into the no-man's-land in between the lines where the ball sits. If a defensive linesman jumps into that space and doesn't get back before the ball is snapped, that's called offsides."

"Oh."

Leon smiled to himself. He had come to understand Cloud so much better in such a short time. For instance, he knew that, similar to his brother, Cloud used the word "oh" as more than a simple interjection. When Cloud said "oh" with that tone of voice, it meant "I understand, and I have no further questions at the moment." And when he had a question or a statement that he wasn't sure he should voice, he would chew his lip a little and gaze off into space.

And he could be very, _very_ sneaky if he wanted something he wasn't supposed to have.

In one fluid movement, Leon put down the knife, picked up a wooden spoon that sat in a nearby canister, and thwacked the hand that had been moving slowly, oh so slowly, towards the cookie sheet that held the nachos. Cloud yelped loudly and snatched it back.

"I said no."

"It's not my fault your cooking is so good!" the blond protested, nursing his hand which had begun to turn a little red. "It's really your fault if you think about it."

"If you can't contain yourself, get the hell out of my kitchen."

A mischievous glint entered the blond's eyes; too late Leon realized he had set himself up. Cloud's hands shot out and snatched up a pair of oven mitts. Within seconds, they were talking to each other.

"Oh, my darling Georgiana, I simply cannot contain myself any longer! I must have you!

"No, Frederick, no! I am but a lowly milkmaid. Think of your status, your family! You cannot throw it all away for a poor creature such as I!

"I can, and I shall! I would give anything for one taste of your milky skin, one little nibble of your honeyed lips, one dip into your forbidden depths!

"Oh, Frederick!

"Georgiana!"

The two oven mitts proceeded to smooch each other mercilessly in what was supposed to be a fit of passion.

Leon's sides were killing him; tears streamed down his face. Never in his life had he imagined he would be treated to a dramatic reenactment of one of his novels courtesy of a pair of red paisley-patterned puppets and one fiendish, bratty blond. Unable to take any more, he pulled a saucer plate out of the cabinets, placed four uncooked nachos on it, and thrust it at him.

"Take it! Now get _out_ of here before I die."

Cloud bowed slightly and accepted the plate. Grinning broadly, he put down one mitt and said to the other, "Come on, Frederick. Let's go watch football." He wandered out of the kitchen with a definite spring in his step, leaving Leon to wipe the tears out of his eyes and massage the pain out of his sides.

Finally free of distractions, Leon managed to finish cooking relatively quickly and joined the other in the living room. Cloud had curled up on the couch with "Frederick" in his lap. As Leon settled down on the other end, placing a plate of properly-done nachos down on the coffee table in front of them, the blond jumped suddenly, pointed to the TV, and cried, "False start!" He turned a beaming smile briefly to Leon and announced, "I saw it that time!"

"Good for you," Leon returned, unable to stop his own smile.

Cloud immediately went back to watching the game, clutching the oven mitt during the exciting plays, but Leon found himself unable to take his eyes away from his companion. He didn't particularly care about either of the teams, so the game didn't interest him that much. Instead, he found himself watching the changes in the other's expression -- the way his eyes lit up when a receiver made a spectacular catch, how he would cringe in sympathy when the quarterback got sacked or someone got hit particularly hard, the confusion in his face when the officials called a penalty he didn't quite understand yet. It was fascinating, like watching a child experience something amazing and fun for the first time.

Halftime came before Leon knew it, and he realized to his shock that he didn't even know what the score was. Nor had he bothered to eat a single nacho; Cloud had devoured them all. Sighing slightly, Leon rose and took the empty plate to the kitchen.

He returned to find that the blond had muted the chatting sportscasters on the TV and had pulled out his PHS. The intent look of concentration on his face was so different from the childlike happiness that had been there only moments before. As Leon approached, Cloud did not try to hide the screen from him as he had done all the previous times. Intrigued and excited that he would finally be allowed to share this part of the blond's world, Leon sat down beside him, close enough to look over his shoulder.

The image on the screen looked like some sort of super-complicated connect-the-dots puzzle. Dots and lines covered almost every inch of space. It looked like an incomprehensible mess to Leon. When he looked a bit closer, he noticed that most of the dots were connected by at least one line, but a few of them sat unconnected. This observation meant nothing to him, however.

"Explain this thing to me, would you?"

Cloud's eyes flicked over to him briefly and then back again to the screen. "Yeah, sure. I'm currently checking the path to see what the activity is like. Hold on." He used the buttons on the machine to scroll the image around until he found what he wanted. Another push magnified the image, and Leon saw that each dot was labeled and that much smaller dots were flickering along the lines. "These big dots are the individual folds. This is where I was living up until a week ago. H926SE1. And this …" The image scrolled madly again for a moment. When it stopped, no flickering dots surrounded the main one. "This is where I was born. M285SS4. Notice how no one is walking around it. That's because there's nothing there anymore, just space."

"How many Skywalkers are there?"

"Somewhere around a hundred. Definitely not more. I've heard that there used to be thousands, but very few people choose to become one anymore. The process is just too painful." He grimaced as if in memory, but the emotion fled as quickly as it had appeared.

Leon let his eyes run over the profile that had completely closed down. "What is the process?" he asked quietly.

Cloud turned at that and met his eyes. They looked at each other for a moment; then, Cloud turned away again and said, "You have enough nightmares already."

"Cloud …"

"Skywalking isn't really that hard once you learn how," he continued, ignoring Leon. "The appeal wears off pretty quickly, though. I mean, what's the point of jumping around from dimension to dimension? People should just stay where they are and build lives for themselves. That's what I think."

Leon exhaled gently at the rebuff but decided to let it go for now. "Can you jump in time or just in space?" he asked.

A little smirk flittered over the other's face. "A time walk is theoretically possible, but no one who's tried it has ever come back. No one tries it anymore."

"I see."

Cloud's fingers flew over the buttons, and another dot appeared in the center of the screen. "And here we have this fold. E714SS9. It's pretty far away from where most of the others like to wa--" His voice stopped abruptly, and his eyes widened. Concerned, Leon immediately looked down at the screen and saw it: two flickering dots approaching the large one from one of the lines.

"Oh gods …" Cloud whispered. His face had paled dramatically, and his hands began to tremble. "Don't stop … Keep on going … Please …" His voice was strained and so very vulnerable. Leon felt his own fear exploding within him. He leaned a bit closer, pushing his elbow onto the back of the couch and resting his hand on Cloud's shoulder. They both watched the small dots move at a steady, heart-paralyzing pace.

"Don't … don't stop …" Cloud continued to pray to whoever would listen. "Please … dear gods, please …"

The dots moved directly on top of the large one … and kept on going.

The PHS tumbled from Cloud's grip and hit the floor with a dull thud. He buried his face in his hands; his arms and shoulders began to tremble as he gasped for breath. Leon realized that he still had his hand on the other's shoulder and that he had gripped it tightly in his own fear. He loosened his grip and made to take the hand away, but one of Cloud's hands reached up before he could and held it there. His other hand stayed over his face as he released his panic in chopped, shaky breaths and small throaty sounds halfway between a sob and a moan.

Leon waited. Cloud's insistence that he stay right where he was surprised him, but he was very happy to comply. In truth, he felt so damn protective of the blond right then that he would have been glad to wrap him up entirely in his arms, but he knew the other would never submit to such coddling. It would have been insulting to him. So instead, Leon would settle for this and try to pour as much comfort as he could into the simple contact.

Eventually, Cloud managed to get himself under control and the shaking stopped. Both of his hands fell to his lap at the same time, and his head leaned back onto the top of the couch where he let it rest, eyes closed. Even though his hand had been released, Leon did not move it. Cloud, he felt, still needed his comfort, and he'd give it until he was told to back off.

After a few minutes of silence, Cloud took a breath a bit larger than the rest and murmured, "Leon?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm scared."

"I know. It's okay to be scared."

To his surprise, a single tear appeared at the corner of Cloud's eye. It hung there for a moment, then broke free and began to slide down his face.

"I have a confession to make," he whispered. Slowly, his eyes opened, and Leon's heart twisted at the sight of the misery that lay within them.

He squeezed his fingers on Cloud's shoulder gently. "I'll listen."

"I'm not really stuck."

"Not stuck?"

"No." More tears spilled over the edges and followed the path of the first one. "All I have to do is take the treatment again, and the wing will grow back. It's all there in my PHS. I just have to take it. But, oh gods …" He lifted a hand and pressed it, clenched into a fist, against his forehead. "It hurts, Leon. It hurts so much, and it's not just physical pain. It leaves scars on your soul. And I never wanted it in the first place. I … I just want … I want to tear the other one out, too, and live a normal life! I don't want to _do_ this anymore! But if I stay here … if I stay and they find me …"

All of a sudden, he lurched forward violently, escaping Leon's touch in the process, and pressed the heels of both hands against his eyes. "I'm such a coward," he cried. "I'm such a _fucking_ coward!"

"Why?" Leon demanded, no longer able to remain silent. "Because you don't want to put yourself through pain to continue on in a life you hate? Because you want something better instead? How is that being a coward?"

"Because I'm putting you in danger, too."

The words, spoken so softly and sadly, stopped Leon's heart. Cloud had dropped his hands, and now he sat there, staring dully at the floor. Leon gazed at him, stunned.

"Danger?" he breathed.

"Yeah. Some of the people who are looking for me, they're not exactly nice. Or all that sane."

"And you think they might hurt me because I'm sheltering you."

"It's a real possibility." He turned his head to Leon and met his eyes. The sheer emptiness in his gaze made Leon's chest ache. "And that's why I should just do it. Get a new wing and keep on moving. So that, if they do track me here, you'll be safe at least."

"And what about you? Are you going to jump from place to place for the rest of your life? Are you going to live in a perpetual state of fear, never having peace?" When Cloud shrugged, Leon shook his head and stated forcefully, "I won't stand for that. You deserve better."

"Maybe, but we don't always get what we deserve. The universe doesn't always work that way."

"I don't give a shit. Look, Cloud …" He reached out and placed a hand on the other's knee. "This may sound strange, but in the past week, you've gone from being a complete stranger to being quite possibly the best friend I've had in my life. And because of that, there is no way this side of Hell that I'm going to let you sacrifice your happiness just to protect me. You don't want to take the treatment again? Then don't take it. Stay here and build a life for yourself."

Cloud's hands were shaking again, and one of them laid itself carefully over Leon's even as his head turned away once more. "I feel the same way, you know," he said softly. "That we've been friends our whole lives. That's why if something ever happened to you, and it was because of me …" His free hand came up to cover his eyes again.

"How many folds are there?"

The abruptness of the question made Cloud jump slightly. He dropped his hand and turned to look at Leon's serious face. "Millions," he replied after a moment.

"Is there more than one way into this fold, or does my house sit on some kind of cosmic Hellmouth?"

"There's more than one way. You can pretty much enter wherever you want."

"So if you succeeded in not leaving a fingerprint, just what is the chance that someone will come here looking for you?"

The blond's eyes unfocused for a bit as his mind considered this. "It's very slim," he admitted. "But Leon --"

"Do you want to leave?"

"No," the other replied immediately. "I don't. I don't want to run anymore. I want …" He broke off and faced the floor yet again. "I want to stay here. With you."

"Then stay."

Cloud closed his eyes and nodded. He had held Leon's hand this entire time, and now he lifted it from his knee and brought it to his face. The other hand joined the first, and together they bent Leon's fingers down and pulled them close so that the backs were lightly touching Cloud's forehead. For a long time, he simply sat there with closed eyes, breathing in and out slowly and carefully.

For his part, Leon was extremely glad that Cloud needed a moment to think. His stomach was flipping and fluttering again, and he was trying with all his might to make it stop. And if that weren't enough, his hands and arms were positively itching to gather the blond up and hold him. He even wanted to rain kisses down on the top of the other's head like he used to do whenever Rinoa needed comfort. But Cloud wasn't Rinoa, the biggest difference being that Cloud was a man. A man with enough personal strength and self-respect that having Leon treat him like his wife would infuriate him. _And really, where are all these touchy-feely urges coming from? Am I really that starved for human contact?_

Cloud's fingers released Leon's hand, and he sat up a bit straighter. "All right," the whispered answer came. "I'll stay."

"And not because you're a coward," Leon prompted, returning his hand to the blond's knee. Why he didn't take it back completely, he didn't really know.

"And not because I'm a coward," Cloud echoed with a small smile. "Because I want to." His eyes lifted, and the smile widened slightly. "Offsides."

"What?" Leon glanced at the TV. He had forgotten that it was still on. Sure enough, the score in the corner sported the small yellow "FLAG" graphic, and as the play ended, the officials converged to discuss the penalty. For some reason, the sudden act of returning to real life and its small details brought a host of chuckles bubbling up from his chest.

"You're laughing at me again," Cloud remarked, although he didn't seem the slightest bit upset at it.

"No, not at you, Cloud," Leon replied, leaning back against the back of the couch and finally retrieving his hand from the other's knee. "Not at you."

Cloud smiled and leaned back as well, and they watched the rest of the game in comfortable silence, their shoulders and upper arms just barely touching. Leon honestly couldn't remember the last time he had felt so at peace, and he realized, as the game clock wound down to zero, that it was just possible that his nightmare had finally ended.


	6. Ready or Not ...

Two days later, Leon's entire world was overturned in a single brief moment.

Again.

They were browsing through online stores together, choosing a new wardrobe for Cloud. He had been wearing Leon's clothes ever since he had been well enough to get out of bed, but they both agreed that if he was going to stay, he should get his own stuff. So Leon had introduced him to the wonders of the internet and credit cards, and they were sorting through some new shirts when …

_CRACK! - ACK!_

Leon nearly lost his balance from the shock of the dual noises. They had been deafening -- and directly outside.

"What the hell was --" His voice cut off abruptly upon seeing Cloud's face. The blond looked sick with fear. His breathing was fast and shallow, and his darting eyes wouldn't stay in one place for more than a couple of seconds. Suddenly, he leapt from his seat and dashed to the kitchen. Somehow understanding what was happening, Leon followed hot on his heels and managed to grab him before he could plunge the knife he had snatched up into his throat.

"Cloud, no!"

"Let me go!" he sobbed wildly. The knife shook dangerously between them as they struggled. "I'd rather die! I'd rather _die!_ "

Determined, Leon twisted Cloud's wrists until he dropped the weapon to the floor. "Stop it," he ordered. "You don't even know who they are." Now he was trying to keep the blond from fleeing somewhere else, probably to his sword in the bedroom from the direction he had faced. Cloud was utterly hysterical, making constant incoherent noises and fighting like a wild animal. Leon was drawing on patience and strength he didn't even know he had in order to keep him in place. Somehow, he managed to get a bit of height on the other and used gravity to push them both to the ground.

"Yo, man, what are we doing here anyway?"

The voice had floated in from outside, and for some reason, Cloud froze immediately at the sound of it. He lay there on the floor, halfway underneath Leon, and listened to the voice with wide eyes.

"That print is a week old," it continued. "He's moved on by now. There's no way he's still around."

"It's the only lead we have," a second voice replied, "so I'm following it. There's no way I'm letting Seph get to him first."

Slowly, Cloud's eyes closed, and his face relaxed. His shoulders began to shake in a kind of silent laughter that worried Leon greatly. It looked like the way someone laughed before others put the white jacket on him. A sharp knock rang out from his front door, but Leon ignored it. Making sure that Cloud was okay was more important. And he had the feeling he didn't want to talk to these people anyway.

"No one home!" the first voice announced cheerily. "Let's move on."

"Blessed Leviathan," the other sighed tiredly. "If you hate it this much, just leave. I can find him on my own."

"Yeah right. You're helpless with print tracing. The only reason we found this one is because I'm a genius."

"This is true. Otherwise I wouldn't put up with you for a second."

"Love you, too. Why are we still standing here?"

"Because there are two life signs inside."

Leon's head shot up. They could tell that they were inside? Uncertain what to do, he looked to Cloud for guidance, but the other man was completely still.

"Could be cats. Or dogs. Except then they'd be barking."

Very slowly, Leon stood and began moving to the door. He wasn't even sure why. On the way, he picked up the knife and placed it on the counter. He supposed he could have taken it with him for protection, but it didn't seem likely that a simple knife would be able to help him much.

"Ah, here comes one. Straighten your shirt. You look a mess."

"I always look a mess. It's my style."

He was right in front of the door. His hand reached out and grasped the knob.

"And try to be polite for once in your life."

"What are you, my wife? Back off, man."

He turned the knob and pulled.

Standing on his doorstep was a young man with wild black hair and a warm, friendly smile. A little further back in the yard stood another man, this one a red-head with a ponytail that went all the way down his back. They were both drop-dead gorgeous. Just like Cloud. Idly, Leon wondered if all Skywalkers looked like movie stars. Each also had a massive sword strapped to his back that looked too heavy to be real. Just like Cloud.

"Hi!" the closer man said, showing all of his perfect teeth in a wide grin. "We're looking for a friend of ours. Blond, blue eyes, quiet type. Name's Cloud Strife. Have you seen him by any chance?"

Leon hesitated. These two didn't look particularly threatening, but that didn't mean he trusted them. Cloud had calmed down at the sound of their voices, but he hadn't moved or said anything positive either. Leon could lie and say he hadn't seen him, but then he'd have to explain the second life sign in his house. And his hydrangeas. The red-head had found them and was inspecting the damage with a thoughtful look on his face. But he sure wasn't going to invite them in for tea either.

"What do you want with him?" he demanded, partly as a way to gain time.

"We just want to find him," the dark-haired one answered. "Make sure he's okay. Last time we saw him, he was having some problems, so …" He trailed off and waved a hand as if to say that the rest was obvious.

A sudden idea occurred to Leon. If he threw in their faces that he knew their secrets, they might be shocked enough to reveal something important. And although he didn't know everything, he knew enough to pretend that he knew it all. "Are you Skywalkers?" he asked the man in front of him harshly. "Did _he_ send you?"

Both men jumped in shock. "Yes," the one he had addressed answered. Then, he corrected himself, "I mean, no. I mean, yes, we're Skywalkers, but we're not working for him. We're trying to find Cloud _before_ he does, actually. You've met him then?"

"I've met him," Leon replied. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave the other his best glare. "And you two don't seem the type to be his friends."

"And yet, they are," a quiet voice commented from behind him. Leon moved aside to find Cloud standing there.

The dark-haired man in front of him paled at the sight of him, and the red-head cried, "Whoa! You _are_ here!"

"That's right," Cloud replied dully. He pushed past Leon to stand before the closer man. "Hello, Zack. Reno."

Zack had recovered from his shock quickly, and as Cloud walked up to him, he narrowed his eyes, all of the friendliness in his face gone. "Why?" he asked.

"Why what?"

"Why are you still here? Why haven't you moved on?"

In response, Cloud moved farther away from the house, closer to Reno. Understanding what the blond was about to do, Leon decided to come outside as well; he shut the door behind him and took a few steps into the yard. When Cloud judged he had gone far enough, he turned and looked pointedly at Zack. Leon could tell that, while Reno may have been a friend as well, Zack was the one with whom he had history. The way their eyes locked together confirmed it without a single word.

This time, Cloud didn't bother to close his eyes. They simply blazed green, and a moment later, the single wing had appeared. The other two didn't even blink.

"Well, hells, Spike," Reno drawled, "that's easily fixed." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a PHS, this one a bit more battered-looking than Cloud's. "Hold on a minute," he called, pushing buttons. "I'll pull it up."

"Reno." Zack's voice was ice, and it swallowed everything else in its intensity. His eyes had not left Cloud's. "Put it away." Surprised, Reno did as he was told. Zack closed the distance between the blond and himself with strong, deliberate steps; Cloud did not flinch.

"Intentionally?" he asked after a moment.

"Accident," Cloud answered.

Zack finally broke eye contact by closing his lids and sighing. When he spoke again, his tone had thawed somewhat. "Cloud, you know I love you like a brother."

"I know."

"Good. Then, please take this in the manner in which it's intended."

His eyes flashed open, his arm pulled back, and then his fist smashed into Cloud's jaw. The blond's head snapped violently to the side, but to his credit, he didn't fall or even stumble. He simply shifted his feet to catch himself. Leon had a sudden sickening feeling that perhaps Cloud was used to being struck.

"Uh-oh, Zack's mad. Better run," Reno commented from beside Leon's elbow, making him jump. When had the red-head moved?

"Are you a complete idiot?" Zack was screaming at Cloud. "He's ripping the path to shreds looking for you, and you're just _sitting?_ Still on the fucking _fingerprint?_ "

Leon took a step forward, intending to go to Cloud's defense, but he found he couldn't move. Reno had placed a single hand on his upper arm, and he was keeping him there without seeming to use any more force than one would to hold the string of a balloon. When Leon stared at him in disbelief, Reno flashed him a quick grin before returning his attention to the other two.

"Well excuse me for not wanting to bleed to death!" Cloud had shouted back, apparently more than able to defend himself. "I'd like to see you run after your wing had been torn out. I couldn't _walk_ for two days!"

"But you can walk now," Zack argued. "And yet you're still here. Why?"

Cloud fell silent, and Leon watched in wonder as the two seemed to continue their conversation with their eyes alone. Once, he saw Cloud throw a quick glance to him, but his eyes fled again before Leon could try to send him a message of any kind. Soon after that look, Zack dipped his head and ran a tired hand through his hair.

"Shit," he commented. "Why is nothing easy when it comes to you?"

Before Leon knew what was happening, Zack had broken away from Cloud and was approaching him. Thankfully, the dark-haired man had resumed his friendly expression, not that Leon could have run from him if he hadn't.

"So, you're the one who took Spike in and patched him up?"

Leon assumed that "Spike" was Cloud's nickname, although really, it could have applied to any of the three currently in front of him. He had never seen such wild locks outside of a hair gel advertisement before.

"Yes, that's right."

"And he told you about Sephiroth?"

"Is that the guy chasing him?" A quick glance to Cloud confirmed that question. "He didn't tell me his name, but yes, I've heard a fair amount."

"Have you figured out what you're going to do when he shows up to drag Cloud back?"

Leon blinked in surprise. Zack still smiled, but there was a seriousness there as well and he had crossed his arms as if in appraisal.

"To be honest," he answered slowly, "I had thought it almost impossible that he would be found. But with you two here, it seems much more likely."

"Damn straight," Reno commented. "The print's faint, but it's there. He'll find it. Lucky for you, I found it first."

"Because you're a genius," Cloud said, rolling his eyes.

"You'd better believe it."

"Anyway," Zack cut in, reclaiming Leon's attention, "the issue of Seph showing up isn't so much an 'if' as a 'when'. So, when that happens are you going to run and leave Cloud behind, or are you going to stand by him?"

Cloud visibly jumped. Clearly he had not expected Zack to ask Leon that question. It didn't take Leon long to answer, however. He didn't even have to think about it.

"Stand by him."

"Good man. You have a weapon? A sword or guns?"

"I have a handgun."

Zack shook his head, disappointed by that response. "Not good enough. Any martial arts training?"

"No."

Next to him, Reno laughed. "Nice knowing ya, pal."

But Zack clearly had a plan. Leon could see it in the way the other man kept his eyes trained to his face, watching Leon's every expression. "Reno," he said thoughtfully. "Give him your Gunblade."

Reno balked. "Are you nuts? Give him Buster instead."

"I use the Buster. You use the EMR, not the sword. I don't think I've seen you draw it once."

"This thing has sentimental value!"

Zack sighed and gave Reno a look that clearly said he was not amused. "That girl is long dead, and you never bothered to get her name anyway. You can't tell me the sex was so amazing that you don't want to give up the sword."

"Of course it was amazing. I was involved."

"Reno," Zack growled, and the ice had returned in full force. "The Gunblade. Now."

Muttering curses fiercely under his breath, Reno detached the huge weapon from his back and stuck it, end first, into the ground.

"Take it," Zack ordered Leon.

But Leon just shook his head. "I can't. Not if it's anything like Cloud's sword. I could barely lift his."

Zack watched him for a moment, his brow slightly creased in thought. The look on his face made Leon nervous. Zack seemed to be the type of person who would not take "no" for an answer.

"Cloud," he called after a moment.

"Yeah?"

"Where's First Tsurugi?"

"In the house."

He fell silent again, but only for a few seconds. "Reno."

"What?"

"Cage Cloud please."

"You got it!" Reno laughed as Cloud let out a startled, "What?"

Before Leon could open his mouth to ask what that meant, Reno had left his side and was running towards Cloud, a long metal rod in his right hand. Two beautiful black wings unfurled from his back as he ran, and then he was in the air. Cloud, sensing what was coming, had taken a defensive stance, and when the red-head fired something electrical out of the rod, he reacted immediately by leaping away. Leon's jaw dropped as he watched Cloud jump. The blond positively soared, even without his second wing, much farther than any human could. He had aimed for one of Leon's taller trees, and when his feet touched it, he quickly spun around and launched himself at Reno. The two collided in a spinning mess of feathers.

"Hasn't lost his touch, I see," Zack commented idly as the combatants hit the ground and rolled apart.

Leon couldn't believe what he was seeing. Now Cloud and Reno were fist-fighting, although Reno took occasional swings with the rod and used his wings more than once to give him a short aerial advantage before Cloud leapt up and brought him down again. Their hands and feet moved so fast that Leon could barely keep track of them; he could see enough, however, to know that Cloud was slowly beating Reno into submission.

"Zack? A little help please?" the red-head called when one of Cloud's kicks knocked the rod from his hand. He had it attached to his wrist by a leather strap so it didn't fly away, but he couldn't regrip it while attempting to defend himself.

"He's not even armed, Reno," Zack called back, obviously amused by the whole thing. "And he has a busted wing. Are you telling me you still can't handle him by yourself?"

"Zaaack!" Reno cried. Cloud had gripped the rod in his own hand and was now using the fact that Reno couldn't get away to shower blows to his head and stomach.

"Oh fine." Showing no inclination to hurry, Zack shrugged off his own sword and stuck it in the ground next to Reno's. He cracked his knuckles, stretched his neck from side to side a bit, and rolled his shoulders. Once all that was accomplished, he announced, "Here I come!" and ran full-speed into the fray.

Zack was clearly more skilled than Reno, and suddenly Cloud was in trouble. Leon got the impression that Cloud could have held his own against the other man were it one on one, but with Reno in the mix, it was only a matter of time before he lost. Zack didn't even bother to unfurl his wings, choosing instead to fight the injured Cloud as an equal. Reno had his rod back, and he and Zack had started a series of attacks where the dark-haired man would throw Cloud in some way and Reno would fire that electricity at him again once Zack was in the clear. Somehow, Cloud had managed to roll or leap away time and again, but Leon could see him tiring. Soon, he wouldn't be able to get away in time.

Leon felt completely helpless. He hadn't moved from his place beside the two swords because he knew he could do nothing. Even if he had trained to fight in some way, these men would still be on a totally different level than he was. He began to shake slightly. He hated this feeling so much. It was just like five years ago. Staring at that smoking skyscraper, knowing that his wife cowered next to a broken window on a floor somewhere above that gaping hole, and able to do nothing to help her. Abso-fucking-lutely _nothing_.

"Reno!" Zack called as he finished the follow-through of a particularly hard throw. Reno cried, "Gotcha!" triumphantly as the lightning came down. And this time, Cloud could not move away fast enough. But instead of hitting him, as Leon expected, the shot exploded directly over his head, sending out a dozen smaller bolts that arced to the ground and created an electric cage with Cloud trapped inside.

"Dammit!" the blond swore fiercely as the other two caught their breath. "What the hell are you playing at, Zack?"

"Just a precaution," Zack replied easily with that happy smile. "I know you, and I know the way you tend to overreact."

Cloud's eyes widened and his face paled as Zack pulled his own PHS from his pocket and began to fiddle with it.

"What are you going to do?" he whispered fearfully.

"Reno," Zack said, ignoring Cloud's question, "grab Spike's new friend, will ya?"

"No!" Cloud yelled, and the horrified cry tore through Leon's chest like a knife. "Leon! Run!"

But Leon didn't have time even to turn around. Again, the red-head had moved so quickly that he had not seen him. Instead, he felt hands gripping both his wrists from behind and felt breath on his neck as Reno whispered in his ear, "Don't bother. I gotcha already."

"You touch Leon and I'll kill you!" Cloud screamed through the sizzling bars of his prison. "You hear me, Zack? I'll fucking _kill_ you!"

"Calm down!" Zack replied, sparing Cloud a look of disbelief. "I'm not going to hurt him. Trust me."

"Trust you? You put me in an electro-cage! And you expect me to trust you?"

"Yes, actually, I do." He turned a hard gaze to Cloud, his eyes blazing with anger and hurt. "I know what you're thinking, and I can't believe you'd think that of me. I don't forget my vows that easily."

This seemed to subdue Cloud, for he dropped his eyes and murmured, "I'm sorry."

"You should be," Zack replied, although his voice had softened. "Anyway, you heard what he said. He wants to stand by you. That's his choice. All I'm doing is giving him the ability to do what he wants."

"But no. Not Leon. Please, Zack."

The smile Zack turned on him at that was sad and affectionate. "Sorry, kid. I care for you too much to let you choose someone who can't protect you." With that, he must have considered the conversation over, for he turned his back on Cloud and walked briskly over to Leon. "Reno, hold his head still."

"Right."

To say that Leon was scared would have been an understatement. He was petrified. They were about to give him this "treatment" that Cloud had talked about with such terror in his voice. In a few seconds, he would be experiencing soul-screaming pain, and then he would be one of them -- against his will, just like Cloud. That phrase echoed in his head a few times. If Leon became a Skywalker by force, Cloud would no longer be the only one. He would have someone with whom to sympathize, someone to truly stand by him no matter where he went. If anyone was going to fill that void in the blond's life, Leon suddenly realized, he wanted it to be him.

So, as Zack opened up a compartment on the back of the PHS and pulled out an attachment that looked a bit like earphones, Leon just looked at Cloud with a small smile. On his knees inside that cage, Cloud looked back, anguished. _It's okay, Cloud. Really._ Zack placed the ends of the cords, not on his ears, but on each of his temples. _Don't look so sad. Please._

"Leon?"

He tore his eyes away from Cloud to look into another set of blue, this pair more purple-gray than the blond's heart-stoppingly pure color.

Zack smiled at him softly. "This may hurt a bit." He pushed a button.

A shock like a giant bolt of static electricity shot through him from his head to his toes. It knocked his head back and scrambled his sense of balance. He stumbled back against Reno and then fell to his knees when the other released him. Strangely, it didn't hurt nearly as much as Leon thought it would. It just had knocked him for a massive loop.

"You could have held him up, you know."

"He cracked my nose with his hard head."

"Poor baby."

"Damn straight."

The world was slowly turning right-side up again. Leon risked opening his eyes and found Zack crouched down in front of him, still smiling. As Leon peered at him, the dark-haired man reached out with one hand and snapped his fingers next to Leon's ear.

"Hear that?"

"Yeah."

"Good." The other hand reached out and snapped next to the other ear. "And that one?"

"Yeah."

"Great!" The smile widened, and Leon had the unsettling feeling that he was a kid again at the pediatrician. Zack was sweet-talking his way through an examination; if he promised a sticker afterwards, Leon wouldn't have been surprised.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Two."

"And now?"

"Four."

"Perfect. Any nausea? Is the dizziness going away?"

Leon took a moment to consider and then nodded. "Yeah, it's fading. No nausea."

"Excellent." Zack rose from his feet, smiled down at Leon for a few heartbeats, and then announced cheerily, "Now for the reflex test."

His hand shot out and grabbed the hilt of his sword. With a single movement, he had pulled it out, raised it over his head, and begun a swing directly for Leon's face. Leon's eyes widened as his heart stopped. Death was coming for him, and he didn't have time for one last breath.

"Leon!" Cloud screamed desperately, unable to do anything but watch.

_Dear God, I'm going to die. Rinoa … Cloud …_

And then, Leon's body flared into life. He rolled away from Zack's swing, leapt to his own feet, and, like King Arthur claiming Excalibur as his own, pulled the Gunblade from the ground in an easy, fluid movement. When Zack swung again, the two blades clanged together loudly.

Zack's face was alight with surprise and joy. "Sweet Shiva! Cloud, he's got talent!"

"Way to pick 'em, Spike," Reno added.

But Leon ignored them. Things were happening to him that he didn't understand. Foreign instincts were exploding into existence within his brain, and muscles he didn't know he had were pinging with anticipation. The weapon in his hands that had been too massive to move now felt no heavier than a common kitchen knife. It almost felt like a natural extension of his own arms. And he knew exactly how to hold it, knew the feel of the hilt, knew where the trigger was and how to move his right index finger so that he could press it at the exact second he wanted. There was nothing new or awkward about any of it. He just _knew_.

Hardly registering what he was doing, Leon attacked. The blades clanged again as Zack moved to defend himself, and the two began to battle in earnest. Leon's body knew exactly what to do, and he let it have control. He had never felt so serious and focused in his life. It was all about the fight; no distractions remained.

"Shit!" Zack cried as one of Leon's thrusts nearly pierced him. Leon took advantage of the close contact and pulled the gun trigger, shooting a spray of bullets into Zack's midsection. Or where his midsection had been a second ago. The other man had anticipated the attack and used the top of the Gunblade to flip himself over, one-handed, to Leon's rear. Quickly, Leon spun and blocked the swing that he had not seen, only felt approaching.

"Talent, my ass!" Reno cried as another of Leon's swings forced Zack to back-flip out of the way. "He's a fucking natural! He's better than you!"

"Nah," Zack called back, dodging a swing easily and offering one of his own. "I'm going easy on him. But he's better than you."

"Fuck you, Fair."

"Is that an offer? Thought you were a pussy-man."

"Damn straight. Like I'd ever let you suck my cock."

"Like I'd ever want to. You want in on this?" he asked as another of Leon's thrusts forced him into a quick roll.

"Seriously?" Reno's voice positively dripped with excitement.

"Yeah, sure. Come on in."

"What?" Cloud yelled. "Both of you?"

But Leon couldn't care less. He'd take them both on at once. Hell, he'd take on every mother fucking Skywalker in the whole damn universe. _Someone_ was going to pay for hurting Cloud.

Again, he felt rather than saw Reno as the other launched himself at him. Quickly, he locked Zack's blade in place with his own, pushing all of his weight onto one foot, and lifted the other to strike out in a kick at the spot where he knew Reno would appear. Sure enough, his foot connected, and he heard a pained wheezing just as Zack overpowered his compromised balance and forced him to retreat. Via a one-handed back-flip -- something he had never done in his life.

The shock lasted only a second. Both men were coming at him at the same time. His instincts roared into overdrive as he blocked their attacks. His blade seemed magnetically drawn to Zack's with the way it connected each time, not allowing a single scratch to reach Leon's body, and his hands and feet seemed to summon Reno rather than defend against him with the way he was always where they thought he would be. Once, he managed to grab Reno's rod and take a swing at Zack with it before the red-head reclaimed it. The feat shocked Reno so much that, the next time Leon swung his sword down, he saw dark fabric tear and the brief flash of red blood.

"Fuck!" Reno cried, falling back, a hand to his arm. "He got me. I'm pulling out, Zack."

"Not a problem," Zack replied cheerfully.

With only one opponent now and a mountain of newly-found confidence, Leon stepped up his offensive dramatically. Zack soon found himself doing nothing but defending. He still smiled, though, even when Leon knocked his sword out of his hands, snagged him around the ankle as Zack tried to flip after it, and threw him onto the ground, unarmed, with the tip of the Gunblade against his throat.

"Sweet Shiva's frozen tits," Reno mumbled from somewhere near the house.

Leon's lungs were taking great gasping breaths; his body was trembling with the force of his anger and his _need_ for battle. That smile was infuriating him. He pressed the sword tip a little harder against Zack's skin, trying to make it go away. It didn't.

"Amazing," he breathed, grinning up at Leon like a madman. "I have absolutely no qualms about leaving Cloud with you now."

Cloud. The name snapped Leon's blind rage, and he found himself in control again. But he was still pissed. "Let Cloud go," he ordered. "Now."

"You heard the man, Reno. Release Spike."

"Roger that."

A moment later, Cloud stood next to him, one hand on his shoulder and the other gently trying to get him to move the sword away from Zack's neck. "It's okay, Leon," he was murmuring, somehow understanding that Leon was still mildly drunk with battle-lust. "It's over now. You can let it go."

Slowly, the trembling in Leon's body ceased. He turned his head to Cloud and saw the relief and the pride reflected in his eyes. And suddenly, he was exhausted. The sword slipped from his hand into Cloud's as his knees gave out and his body slumped against the blond's. Cloud caught him without comment and slowly eased him to the ground.

Lying there with his head against Cloud's chest, Leon was vaguely aware of conversation happening above his head. He had trouble understanding the words, however. He was just so tired and drained. His brain didn't seem to be working right anymore, and he knew he wouldn't be able to get his body to move again for hours.

"Gods, I should gut the both of you for doing this to him."

"Yeah, but I wanted to make sure he'd be of some use to you. And now I'm sure."

A sigh ruffled Leon's hair slightly. He turned his face a bit more into Cloud's neck. The blond was warm. And soft.

"So who exactly is after me?"

"The brothers. All of them."

"What about the Organization?"

"No. Xemnas told Seph that he wasn't about to send his precious hand-picked army out just to look for a runaway boyfriend."

Cloud was Sephiroth's boyfriend? Cloud was gay? Leon wrinkled his forehead a bit, considering whether that piece of information mattered to him. … No, he decided, it didn't.

"That's a blessing, at least. I'm pretty sure I can handle Seph's brothers, once I've recovered completely."

"Yeah." That voice was Reno's. "And it'll be a lot easier now that you have the new boyfriend to help you beat up the old one."

"Leon's not my boyfriend," Cloud answered. Was that sadness in his voice? _Don't be sad, Cloud._

"Taking it slow? Not a bad idea."

"He's straight. And he's taken."

"Where's the girl?"

"Dead."

"Pfft. Then he's not taken."

Cloud stiffened, and his voice had hardened. "You know, Reno, some people actually allow a bit of love into their lives. The kind of love that lasts beyond death."

"Some people, sure. But not us."

"Let it go, Reno." Zack again. "We should get going, but I'll need some blood first if you want us to make some false prints for you."

"Yeah, that would be really helpful."

"Okay. Give me your not-boyfriend."

The hand that held Leon against Cloud tightened, and Leon agreed. _No. Don't wanna be anywhere else._

"No. That's okay. I don't have anything to cut with anyway. Take my hand and you do it."

"All right then."

Curious as to what was happening, Leon forced his eyes open a crack. He could just barely see Cloud's hand and the fresh cut on the palm that was dripping a bit of blood into a small glass vial that Zack held. He shut his eyes again a moment later; they wouldn't stay open.

"That should be plenty," Zack commented, his voice now coming from much higher up. "But do me a favor and move somewhere else, okay? Get out from under the fingerprint. This guy has family, right? Go visit them or something."

"I will," Cloud replied. "I promise I will. Now both of you get the hell out of here. I don't want to see either of your faces ever again."

Zack chuckled softly and commented, "With luck, you never will. Take care, Spike."

Cloud didn't answer, but Leon felt a pressure against the top of his head, as if the blond had buried his face in Leon's hair. A moment later, the double _CRACK!_ made him jump, but Cloud's arms held him in place and his hands soothed away the shock.

"I'm sorry, Leon," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

_'S okay, Cloud … Don' be sad … Don' wan' you ta be sad …_

Leon wanted to say something. He wanted to comfort Cloud with reassurances. But he couldn't do anything except relax even further into the other's arms. The fatigue was taking him, and he couldn't fight it any longer. Finally admitting defeat, he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	7. Pillow Talk

When Leon woke in his own bed, night had fallen. Most of the house was dark as well. In fact, the only light he could see was the nightlight from the bathroom that lit whenever no other light was present. He immediately looked for Cloud -- and found him straight away. The blond had brought in a chair from the kitchen, just as Leon had done that first day, but instead of sitting across the room, he had settled directly next to the bed. And in the process of waiting for Leon to recover, he had fallen asleep, his head supported by his crossed arms as they rested on the mattress.

Memories floated back into Leon's consciousness as he lay there. Bits of remembered emotions flickered through his heart and head. He could still feel that hunger for battle bubbling below the surface, but it was just a quiet sensation now, quite unlike the fire that had taken him while he fought Zack. Leon realized, as he thought about it, that not once during that fight had he felt fear or even thought about himself at all. All his thoughts had rested with Cloud: to free him from his prison, to avenge his pain, and to protect him from ever being hurt by anyone again.

Carefully and gently, so as not to wake the other, Leon lifted a hand and ran his fingers through Cloud's hair. It was strange, he thought, how strongly he felt about the blond, how much he wanted to help him. Perhaps it was because, unlike the countless women who fawned over him at his book signings, Cloud didn't want to be protected. Not once had he asked for help -- quite the opposite, he had attempted to push Leon away several times so as to protect _him_. It hadn't worked, though; Leon had stayed right there by him whether Cloud liked it or not, and he had absolutely no intention of ever moving.

Eventually, Leon's senses began to prickle, and he stop musing long enough to realize he was being watched. He let his gaze focus on Cloud, and sure enough, the blond's eyes were open, just barely visible in the near-dark. Quickly, Leon pulled his hand away. A soft sound of protest escaped the other man as his fingers fled.

"You didn't have to stop," he murmured with a hint of annoyance. "It felt good."

Leon swallowed, unable to think of anything to say to ease the embarrassment of being caught petting the sleeping blond. "You're awake," he settled on after a moment, even though it sounded stupid.

"You are, too," Cloud returned, apparently undisturbed by the whole thing. He pushed himself into a sitting position before asking, "How do you feel?"

"Perfectly fine. No different than normal."

"No side effects then. Good."

"Cloud." Almost without knowing it, Leon's hand reached out and gripped the other man around the wrist. He really didn't want to ask this question, but he also knew that he needed to know the answer. "What did Zack do to me? At first, I thought he was going to make me into a Skywalker, too."

Cloud sighed and looked away. "So did I, and I'm ashamed to admit it. Zack and I promised each other that, even if someone asked for the treatment, we wouldn't give it until he knew exactly what it entailed." His posture slumped slightly. "I … thought he had forgotten."

"So what did he do?"

The hand that Leon didn't have trapped came up to support Cloud's head. "I'm not entirely sure," he answered. "He obviously gave you an enhancement package, but I don't think that was all." He paused, and then in a sharp voice that commanded response, he said, "My sword is called First Tsurugi. How many parts does it have?"

"Six," Leon replied immediately. He blinked. What the hell?

"What weapon did Reno use?"

"An EMR." That piece of information Zack had volunteered, so it didn't seem as strange. But then:

"What does it stand for?"

"Electro-Magnetic Rod." Where the answers were coming from, Leon had no clue. His mouth moved on its own without his input.

"How many blades does the Souba have?"

"Two. What the hell? Cloud, how do I know this stuff?"

"What kind of weapon is Dual Hound?"

"A pile bunker. Okay, that's enough! I've never even _heard_ of a pile bunker."

Cloud sighed and met Leon's angry eyes with a look of resigned calm. "He gave you memory inserts. Sounds like the basic weapon package along with the advanced. And from the way you fought yesterday, he undoubtedly gave you several martial arts packages as well."

"Memory inserts?" Leon echoed, confused and more than a little nervous.

"It's nanotechnology combined with chemical stimulants. He basically implanted years worth of studying and training directly into your brain."

"Are you saying," Leon asked slowly and deliberately, "that I have a bunch of tiny machines in my head doing things to my brain?"

"Yes."

"Pardon me, but I have to go be violently sick now."

"It's not that bad," Cloud assured him, using the hand he had just released to push him back down before he could get out of bed. "Most of the work is already done. That's why he attacked you. The surge of adrenaline stimulates the nanomachines, causing them to work faster and embed the information deeper. It also assists the enhancement package since the increased blood flow makes it easier for the chemicals to reach your muscles as quickly as possible. But still …" He broke off and looked away, obviously upset. "I could just kill him for doing that to you. If your body had rejected the program, or if they hadn't worked fast enough, you could have been seriously hurt. If that had happened, I never would have forgiven myself."

The pain in Cloud's voice stirred something inside Leon's chest, and he found his concern for himself fading away before the need to do something about that sadness. He reached out and took Cloud's arm again, this time just above the elbow.

"It's okay. I'm okay. You don't need to feel guilty about anything."

Cloud's free hand came around to cover Leon's. "Thanks."

"Do you have mechanical bugs in your head, too?"

Even in the dark, he could see that smile clearly. "Yeah. Lots more than you do."

"Then I should be fine. Right?"

"Right."

For the next few minutes, Leon just lay there and gazed at Cloud's profile. He didn't need the light to know what it looked like. He had seen no one else but Cloud for the past several days, after all. So the fact that he knew just where the lines and curves on the other's face lay, the fact that he knew without seeing how far down the blond's eyelashes brushed when he closed his eyes and just how much of his ear was covered by that mess of hair -- these things didn't bother him. However, he did realize, after a while, that something he hadn't known about Cloud until today was in the forefront of his mind and waiting to be discussed.

"Cloud?"

"Hmm?"

"Sephiroth is your boyfriend?"

The hand fell off of his. Leon felt a nasty pang of pain and guilt at its absence.

"You were awake for that?" Cloud asked quietly.

"Yeah. Enough."

Cloud's arm twitched, and Leon realized the other man didn't want to be touched anymore. Reluctantly, he removed his hand and drew it back. The ugly feeling gnawing at his gut increased.

"He's not my boyfriend."

The tone in the blond's voice was warning Leon to drop it, but he couldn't help himself. "Ex-boyfriend, then?"

"No." How could one word hold so much anger, regret, and pure, raw hurt? "The word 'boyfriend'," he continued, "implies that one of us cared for the other. And that I had a choice."

Leon felt ragingly sick again, but this time for a much different reason. He remembered how Cloud had taken Zack's punch, as if being hit was commonplace to him. Was this the life he had run from? Coercion? Abuse? Dear god … rape?

"I am gay, though," Cloud added in a much lighter tone. He offered a small smile in Leon's direction. "Sorry for not telling you."

"It's okay," he answered immediately. "It's not exactly something you flaunt around."

"Am I going to be kicked out of the house?"

Leon snorted in spite of himself. "Hell no. If I hated gays, I'd have to lump my little brother in with them. Sora swears blind that he's actually bi."

"Didn't you tell me he's been dating the same girl since he was thirteen?"

"Yeah. That's why no one believes him."

Cloud chuckled a bit at that, and Leon couldn't help but smile. Cloud just had that effect on him. It truly made Leon happy to see the blond happy, and when he was upset, it hurt so much. If Cloud were a woman, Leon would swear he was falling for him.

"Leon?"

Cloud was chewing his lip again, and the hesitant expression on his face was just too damn cute. It made Leon want to laugh, but he restrained himself. "Yeah?"

"You feel pretty normal, right?"

"Yes."

"Do you feel well enough to … well … cook?"

This time, Leon let himself laugh. "Hungry, are you?" he accused.

Cloud had the decency to look sheepish. "Well, yes. And your cooking is so much better than mine, that I thought …" He trailed off in a painfully obvious fashion.

With a melodramatic sigh that was pure acting, Leon threw the covers off of himself, making sure to smack Cloud with them, and got out of bed. "Fine," he replied, pretending to be quite put out. "I'll cook for you and your bottomless stomach."

Cloud pulled the sheets off of his face and offered Leon a half-smile through the darkness. "Thanks," he said quietly.

Leon paused a moment and gazed at him. Even with the poor visibility, he could see that something was wrong with the other man. Clearly, something still bothered him. Most likely the lingering remains of guilt. Offering as encouraging a smile as he could, Leon leaned over the bed, placing his hands on the mattress to support himself, and looked into Cloud's eyes.

"No problem." He cocked his head in the direction of the kitchen. "Let's go."

As they walked down the hall, he commented, "I'll call Sora tomorrow. We need to leave, right? We can go visit him."

"Yeah," Cloud replied, a few steps behind him. "Sorry about that. To you and to him."

"It's no problem. I own the house. Sora just lives there while he's attending school."

"Oh. Okay then."

Leon tried to hide the cringe that had crept up on him at the other's tone of voice. Something was definitely wrong with Cloud. Perhaps he was just starved. Leon could at least hope that was it. He sure as hell hoped it wasn't something that he couldn't help solve. He didn't think he could handle being unable to help anymore.

In the kitchen, Leon pushed away these thoughts, opened the refrigerator, and bent down to look inside. Cloud leaned against a counter to wait. Out of the corner of his eye, Leon saw the blond pick up an oven mitt, and almost immediately, his sad scowl had morphed into a grin at the memory of the prank he had pulled on Leon a few days ago. Leon shook his head and went back to examining his meat selection. Really, Cloud was too adorable, and Leon had become quite strongly attached to him. If he were female, Leon would have asked him out a dozen times by now.

Although really, what did gender have to do with anything?

_Crack!_

"Ow! _Fuck!_ "

"What happened?" Cloud asked, concerned. He dropped the mitt on the counter and walked over to Leon who was rubbing the back of his head.

"I stood up too fast and cracked my head against the handle of the freezer."

"Ouch," the blond sympathized. Opening a nearby drawer, he rooted around until he found a ziploc bag. "Here, move. I'll fix you an icepack." He pulled Leon out of the way, opened the freezer, and began filling the plastic bag with ice cubes. When he had finished, he found a hand towel, wrapped it around the full ziploc, and, walking to behind Leon and pulling his hand away, placed it on the spot that he had smacked.

"I can hold that, you know," Leon offered, feeling suddenly quite embarrassed.

"No you can't," Cloud returned. "You have to cook, and you need both hands for that."

"Sweet Shiva," Leon muttered, relishing the way the usage of Cloud's favorite epithet made the blond laugh.

So Leon proceeded to cook chicken with a white wine and caper sauce, white rice, and steamed asparagus with a mayonnaise-based garlic dip. Cloud trailed after him the entire time like an extra appendage. More than once, Leon tried to get the other to give up the icepack, but Cloud refused, especially once there was food to look at over Leon's shoulder and perhaps sneak tastes of when he was occupied. Leon attempted to keep these illegal forays to a minimum, but unfortunately, his thoughts from before kept him from policing his work as efficiently as would be normal.

Could it be true that he was falling for Cloud? He already knew that he loved him, quite possibly as much as he loved Sora and the rest of his family. But was he falling _in_ love with him? He hadn't ever thought of the possibility that he could be bisexual. He had never looked at a man in that way before. But, then again, he had never really looked at a woman before Rinoa. And since her, well, no other woman had stood a chance.

But could he be sexually interested in a man? As he cut up the asparagus into smaller pieces that would fit inside the steamer, Leon considered this question. When Cloud was near him, he didn't really feel sexually-charged. There was no romantic spark when they touched or brushed against each other. But then again, Leon was approaching thirty. His teenage hormones had burned off long ago, leaving him with more control over his body and urges. So, instead of relying on the clichéd symptoms of love, he brought up an image of making love to Rinoa in his head. He felt a gentle flush settle over him as he thought of her throaty moans and her euphoric expression. Then, he forcibly changed the image to be Cloud beneath him in order to gauge his reaction.

"Whoops," Cloud commented as a piece of asparagus shot out from under the knife and ricocheted around the sink. "Lost one."

Leon didn't comment. He was trying to get his hands to stop shaking. At the thought of making love to Cloud, a wave of heat had washed over him and blood had rushed to areas of his body that it had avoided for years. Leon was suddenly very, _very_ aware of the blond's body behind him and the way it pressed up against his back whenever the sneaky brat tried to snatch a piece of garlic or dip a finger into the sauce. _Yes_ , he decided calmly within his mind, _I am sexually attracted to Cloud._

And that, as far as he was concerned, clinched it. He was bi, and he was falling in love with a rogue Skywalker on the run from someone who sounded extremely dangerous if not insane. It didn't matter from what angle he approached the situation. Leon was fucked. Massively and completely fucked.

xXx

That night, after a dinner where Cloud ate like a famine victim and Leon pushed his food around and around on his plate, Leon lay on the air mattress and stared at the ceiling. He suddenly had a hell of a lot of things to sort out. Like how all of this related to his marriage and his memories of Rinoa. As far as he was concerned, he had still been grieving up until a few days ago; he wasn't entirely sure he was done now. And even though she had told him on the phone that she wanted him to be open to another love, it still felt like a betrayal on some level. He had fully intended to stay single for the rest of his life.

And then there was Cloud himself. The blond obviously had issues with this Sephiroth guy, and from the little he had heard, they didn't sound pleasant or easy to work through. Even if Cloud felt attracted to Leon, he probably wouldn't be open to a relationship any time soon. And Leon knew that if he was going to take up anything with the other man, he wanted it to be serious and meaningful. He had never had a "just sex" relationship with anyone before, and he certainly wasn't going to start with someone as beautiful and precious as Cloud.

Leon's thoughts kept him awake long past midnight. Which is why he noticed when the bed beside him creaked and the sheets shifted with the movement of the body within it. Feet hit the floor on the other side of the bed and made soft shuffling sounds as they wandered away. At first, Leon thought Cloud was on his way to the bathroom, but the door never opened. After several minutes of waiting, Leon couldn't take it anymore; he sat up and looked around.

Cloud stood by the window on the other side of the room, leaning against the wall with arms encircling his waist and eyes staring into the darkness outside. He looked deep in thought, although the small crease in his forehead told that those thoughts were not entirely pleasant. Carefully, Leon extracted himself from his covers and walked slowly over to join him.

"You're awake," Cloud remarked quietly when Leon was close enough to hear.

"Couldn't sleep," he answered truthfully.

"Me neither."

Silence bore down upon them. Unlike most of the quiet times they had shared, this one was oppressive, and Leon fidgeted slightly under its weight. He had settled himself against the wall on the other side of the window, and he pretended to look outside while covertly observing Cloud instead. The blond looked tired and pale. He had closed down his face to all emotion, staring robotically out at nothing. Leon wondered what the other was thinking to cause such a complete shut down, but he didn't want to intrude by asking.

But then, Cloud began to tell him anyway.

"Sephiroth was my hero once. When I was a kid. A lot of people looked up to him, me included."

"Cloud," Leon cut in, feeling like he should, "you don't have to talk if you don't want to."

"I know. I want to."

So Leon let him.

Sephiroth had been a famous general, a war hero. And then, five years before their planet had been destroyed, Sephiroth had been assigned to a mission in Cloud's hometown. Zack, another elite soldier, had been held up on a mission in another location, and Cloud had just been a foot soldier then; neither of them went on the mission. Something had happened, resulting in the entire town burning to the ground and Sephiroth disappearing from the face of the planet.

"Everyone died, including my mother and a girl I had been close to as a child. I was devastated for a really long time. Everyone said it had been an accident, but I couldn't help but think that Sephiroth had caused it. That it was somehow his fault."

He skipped over his activities for the next five years, only mentioning that he had quit the military and that he and Zack had parted ways for a while. And then, Zack had reappeared, claiming that the company that ran the military had been investigating Sephiroth's disappearance and had made a breakthrough. They were sending Zack back to the destroyed town, and Zack wanted to know if Cloud wanted to come. He said yes. So, with Reno in tow -- Reno had worked for the company in a role that sounded half CIA, half hit man -- they had gone to the place where Sephiroth had disappeared.

And found him. He had become a Skywalker on his own, using the remains of another Skywalker named Jenova and the bits of research he had found in an old mansion in the town. He appeared before them as they were investigating and yanked the three of them back with him, spouting omens of death and disaster. To Cloud's surprise, the predictions had been true, and within hours, the entire planet had been destroyed due to a large meteor impact. Zack, Cloud, and Reno had just happened to be in the right place at the right time. That was the only reason they had survived.

Cloud had sunk into depression a second time. He couldn't believe he had lost everything yet again. In his anger and grief, he heaped the blame for both directly onto Sephiroth. It turned out the fire that had taken his town had in fact been the other man's fault, caused by his home-made transformation and the explosion of energy it released. The meteor had not been of Sephiroth's doing, but Cloud blamed him for not doing more. For not saving more people or warning them so that they could try to avert the disaster. All of the respect he had once had for the man turned ugly and violent.

And then, for no apparent reason, Sephiroth had decided that he wanted Cloud for his own, and whatever Sephiroth wanted, he got. The poor, unenhanced blond hadn't stood a chance against a Skywalker who had been legendary even before his disappearance and who had spent the past five years honing his skills. Just as Leon had feared, Cloud had been bound, beaten, raped, and worse. And then Sephiroth had started enhancing him against his will, injecting him with program after program until Cloud feared he was more machine than man.

He cried as he talked; honestly, how could he not, saying those terrible words out loud? But the way the tears came down -- slowly and without being acknowledged by the one who shed them -- Leon doubted they were doing any good. He also became increasingly concerned by the way Cloud seemed to be forcing his words out. He had said he wanted to talk, but the more he listened, the more Leon felt he had lied. When he had talked about Rinoa, the words had come out freely, acting as a kind of release, but Cloud was obviously having trouble speaking about these things, and they weren't helping him in the slightest.

"Sometimes I think he singled me out because I stood up to him. No one had ever done that; he was used to being bowed to and worshipped, even as a Skywalker. After all, he's still the only one who's managed to recreate the transformation without the PHS program. But I was so angry that I threw my hatred for him in his face. I yelled at him, ignored him when he tried to talk to me, and generally treated him like the scum I thought he was. I must have fascinated him, and with Sephiroth, it's a very small step between fascination and obsession."

Cloud sighed and tightened his arms around himself. It was a small movement, but Leon noticed it. "I wonder," he said softly, "if I had kept my feelings to myself and pretended to be grateful, maybe he would have left me alone."

Leon had successfully held his tongue the entire time, but he simply could not let that one go by uncontested. "Is that supposed to mean you think it's your fault? That's ridiculous." He took a step closer and seized Cloud's shoulders in his hands. "It's not your fault, okay? It's all that sick bastard. No one should have to go through what you have."

Cloud nodded sadly, and before Leon realized what he was doing, he had gathered the blond into his arms. They were normally the same height, but Cloud's depression had affected his body, causing him to stoop slightly. His head fell into place on Leon's shoulder as Leon crossed his arms behind the small of the blond's back and pulled him close. Cloud's own arms remained trapped between their chests.

"It's not your fault," Leon repeated as he felt Cloud tremble slightly. "Not you. Never you."

"You're so kind to me," Cloud replied. "I don't deserve it."

"Of course you do," Leon argued immediately. "You deserve it more than anyone."

"But you've done so much. You opened your house to me, took care of me when I was injured, fed me, bought me new clothes … I just feel like I should pay you back somehow."

The tone of Cloud's voice had dulled, much to Leon's surprise. But he shook it off and responded to the words instead of the way they had been spoken. "You don't need to repay me. I wanted to do it. Plus, I'm a trashy romance novelist. I have plenty of money." He chuckled lightly, hoping that Cloud would do the same.

The blond, however, did not laugh, and the life in his voice died even more. "I wasn't talking about money."

Warmth suddenly pressed into the area between Leon's legs, and he inhaled sharply as a blast of pleasurable tension engulfed him. Cloud had shifted his hand and was now stroking Leon through the sweatpants he wore as pajamas. His fingers moved with confidence, expertly teasing and encouraging Leon's arousal. Before Leon's mind could completely grasp what was happening, he was fully erect.

"It doesn't feel any different, you know," Cloud whispered in his ear, letting his breath blow over the sensual areas of Leon's neck. "If you shut your eyes, you can pretend I'm a woman. Pretend I'm your wife." He ran a finger and thumb down opposite sides of Leon's length, then circled his whole hand around at the base and slowly rose, letting the cotton of the sweatpants slide along with him, creating a marvelous, soft friction. His other hand had risen to the back of Leon's neck, holding him in place.

Leon shuddered. His eyes closed and his head rolled to one shoulder against his will. It had been so long since someone else had touched him. But this didn't feel right. "Cloud …" he managed.

"Shhh," the blond interrupted. "Don't think of me. Think of Rinoa."

No, this was wrong. It was so wrong. Cloud's hand was driving him to distraction -- sliding sweetly up and down, pausing now and then to circle his thumb over the head or drift his fingers down to massage the testicles. But somewhere in his rapidly clouding brain, Leon knew he didn't want this. He didn't want Cloud to try to hide behind a memory. He wanted the blond to demand that Leon think of him and only him.

Leon opened his mouth to tell the other man to stop, but at that moment, Cloud leaned his head closer to Leon's neck and latched onto him. He sucked gently, pulling up Leon's skin into his mouth between his teeth where he teased it with his tongue. Coherency slipped away, and Leon could only moan in abandonment as the pleasure wracked his body. But when he felt cooler air touch his hot skin, he realized Cloud had used the neck attack as a distraction so that he could remove the hand behind Leon's head and bring it down to his pants. While Leon had given himself up to the new sensation, Cloud had pulled out Leon's elastic waistband and carefully slipped it over and down until the fabric rested mid-thigh. And now he was pulling away slightly with the obvious intention of kneeling down and continuing in that manner.

Leon's head was spinning. He was about to get sucked off by his primary love interest, and while in most cases that would be a good thing, in this particular instance, it was quite bad. He knew enough about himself to know that he would never be able to resist a blow job, so if he was going to stop this, he needed to stop it right now. But how?

The answer came to him with the sight of Cloud's face as it passed. The blond had kept his face hidden in Leon's neck until then, but he couldn't help allowing a glimpse of his expression as he prepared to kneel. As Leon looked at him, he saw … nothing. No desire, no contentment, no emotion at all. Nothing except, perhaps, the tiniest bit of resignation.

Leon understood at once, and he knew what he needed to do to confirm it. Quickly, before Cloud could distract him with anything else, he reached up, grabbed the other man's shoulders, and leaned in to kiss him.

Cloud backed away.

Panting slightly, Leon let his head fall forward as he continued to hold Cloud at arms' length. "I thought so," he gasped. "You don't want this either."

"What do you mean?" Cloud asked after a moment's pause. "I want you, Leon."

Leon ground his teeth. Never in his life had he heard those words spoken with less conviction. Even when his editor forced him to do readings of his trash writing, he attempted to at least put a little feeling into it. Cloud hadn't even tried.

"Really?" he replied with a voice drowning in skepticism. Again, he pushed forward and tried to kiss Cloud. Again, the other man retreated. "If you want me so much, why won't you kiss me?" he demanded.

Cloud said nothing, only looked away. Leon took the opportunity to pull up his pants and cover his quickly fading erection before continuing, "You feel guilty, don't you? Guilty for what Zack did to me without my consent. For bringing your problems into my life. For getting me involved when you didn't want to. So you thought you'd open up to me like I opened up to you with Rinoa. You told me about Sephiroth, even though you weren't ready. I could tell; you didn't want to be saying those things yet. But you did it, and you discovered that it hadn't helped. If anything, the guilt had increased. So you did the only other thing you could think of. After all …" he paused for a moment and swallowed, beginning to feel sick again, "… you've given up your body without consent so many times, what difference would one more time make?"

"It's okay. It doesn't matter."

The dead words plunged deeply into Leon's heart, and he found himself grabbing Cloud by the shoulders again, shaking him a bit to get the other to look in his direction. "It does matter!" he cried. "You should never give yourself to anyone if you don't want to, not for any reason. Your body is yours, Cloud, and no one else has any claim to it whatsoever."

Cloud's eyes had slid shut, and his face was pinched as if trying to keep himself in check. He nodded once and lifted a hand to cover his eyes. With a small sigh, he dipped his chin and leaned forward just enough to touch the top of his forehead to Leon's. "I'm sorry," he whispered after a few heartbeats of silence.

"Don't be. It's okay."

They stood like that for several more minutes, simply being together. All of the awkwardness and oppressiveness of before had finally disappeared. Leon felt the last vestiges of his arousal fade away as he just concentrated on his breathing; he was more than happy to see it go.

Eventually, Cloud shifted slightly and confessed, "I'm tired."

Leon sighed a little and smiled. "Me too," he replied. Dropping one hand, he slipped the other around both of Cloud's shoulders and led him to the bed.

Once he had tucked the blond safely beneath the sheets and fussed with the blanket a bit, Leon backed away to return to his own mattress when Cloud's voice stopped him.

"It must be pretty uncomfortable for you on the floor," he said, his tone carefully guarded. "The mattress is too small. Your feet fall off the end."

Leon blinked at the blue eyes that were gazing at him. "Sora's shorter than I am," he commented, not believing what he was hearing.

"I doubt it's healthy either, now that it's getting colder."

Cloud was being careful, but Leon knew exactly where this line of thought was going. He hesitated briefly, but the almost-hidden plea in those blue eyes made his decision for him. Cloud had taken the left side of the bed, so Leon slipped in on the right. The blond said nothing as Leon settled himself on his back and pulled up the covers; he just watched and then, briefly, when Leon looked over at him, smiled and shut his eyes. They weren't touching; there were at least seven or eight inches between them. But it didn't matter.

Leon realized as he shut his own eyes that this was the first time he had shared a bed with another person since Rinoa's death. He reasoned that he should be feeling a bit concerned by that, but he couldn't bring himself to feel anything other than peacefully content. He realized something else as well. As far as falling in love with Cloud was concerned, it was no longer an action in the present or future tense. It was most solidly in the past. And as Leon slipped off into sleep, he realized that this particular bit of information didn't bother him. Not in the slightest.


	8. Ripples in the Calm

"Hello?"

"Sora, it's me."

"Squall! How are y-- … Wait. You're calling me. Why are you calling me? Oh no, did someone die?"

"No, Sora, no one's dead."

"Then why are you calling me? You never call me. I always have to call you."

"That is not true."

"Yes, it is. You only ever call on my birthday or holidays. Is it my birthday and I just forgot? Kairi! Is it my birthday?"

Leon sighed heavily and dropped his head into his free hand. Sitting across the table from him, Cloud looked up from his breakfast and raised an eyebrow in question. Leon shook his head to indicate that he didn't want to talk about it. Sora could be so obnoxious sometimes, although Leon suspected that more often than not the kid did it on purpose.

Of course, he could be a pain in the ass as well if he wanted. That's what brothers were for. "Kairi's with you? It's only eight o'clock in the morning. I thought college kids slept in when they didn't have classes."

"Um … yeah … you see … well …"

He smiled wickedly at Sora's obvious embarrassment. Revenge could taste so sweet. Across the table, Cloud snorted at his expression, but Leon ignored him. He listened to Sora's spluttering for a few seconds more before deciding to let him off the hook. "Don't worry, I won't tell Mom. Just remember the rules I set for you."

"No sex in the kitchen," Sora recited dutifully. "We've followed it. I promise."

"Out of curiosity, has Kairi spent any time in the guest bedroom, or has she spent all her nights in the main bedroom with you?"

"With me," he answered immediately, all traces of embarrassment gone.

"So the guest bedroom is basically untouched?"

"Yeah, it's pretty much the same way you left it."

"Good. Clear off the dust for me, will you? I'm coming to visit."

Dead silence greeted this announcement for at least thirty seconds. Then, just as Leon was about to see if the line had disconnected, Sora cried, " _What?!?_ "

"Ouch."

"You're _what?!?_ "

"No, that's okay, I'm not deaf in one ear now. Thanks for asking."

"You're _visiting?_ It is my birthday, isn't it? No, it's Christmas. Did I pull a Rip Van Winkle and sleep until Christmas? Kairi!"

Leon grit his teeth and resisted the urge to bang his head against the tabletop. "Put Kairi on, will you?" he growled. "I can't talk to you when you're like this."

"Way ahead of you, Leon," Kairi's gentle voice replied. It was pure, sweet music to his still-ringing ears. "You're visiting?" she asked.

"Yes."

"When are you leaving?"

"Today. Just as soon as I can get packed. Sorry for the short notice."

"That's okay," she assured him with a light laugh. "It is your house after all. How long will you be staying?"

"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "A while. And Kairi?"

"Yes?"

Here came the tricky part. "I'll be bringing a friend with me."

For a moment, she said nothing. Then, she ventured carefully, "A … _female_ … friend?"

"No. A male friend."

"Oh, okay." This seemed like less interesting news to her; Leon couldn't blame her for thinking that. He had only found out yesterday that he was a switch-hitter like Sora.

As for his little brother, the brat was now going off in the background about the fact that Leon had a friend. He seemed to think it signaled the end of the world. "Would you please tell Sora to shut up?" he asked Kairi, trying to keep his anger in check. "He's making it sound like I'm some sort of antisocial recluse."

Cloud snorted again and dipped his head to keep his expression hidden from Leon. Kairi, however, had no qualms about saying what they all felt. "But, Leon, you _are_ an antisocial recluse."

"Whatever. I hate you all."

She laughed prettily. "We know. Well, drive safely and … . Wait a minute. 'All'? Is he there with you right now?"

"At eight in the morning?" Sora added, his voice coming through loud and clear.

Leon ignored them both. "I'll call you right before I hit the road so you know when to expect us. Thanks, Kairi." And he hung up before anything else could happen. Sighing, he sent a glance in Cloud's direction and commented, "My family is too observant for their own good."

Cloud had recovered himself and offered a sympathetic look. "What are you going to tell them about me?"

Leon shrugged and reached for his coffee. "I'll think of something."

The rest of breakfast passed in silence, each man keeping company with his own thoughts. Leon's dwelt solely on the problem of himself, Cloud, and their future together. In particular, when should he let the other know that his feelings ran deeper than friendship? If they were both free of emotional baggage, he'd tell the other right away -- he was far too old for teenage jitters, and he had been through enough in his life that rejection no longer scared him. However, they most certainly were not, neither of them. Leon had to figure out how much grief and loss lingered in him over Rinoa. He sure as hell didn't want to start into a relationship with Cloud only to find himself racked with guilt and doubt. Plus, his transition from straight to bi had been so fast that he suspected it hadn't sunk in all the way yet. Again, once he started having doubts, he didn't want Cloud to already be in the equation.

And then there was Cloud himself. The blond was so strong to have fought his abuse rather than give in to it, but the experience had clearly shattered his self-esteem. Last night had made that perfectly clear. Leon feared that if he admitted his feelings now, Cloud would view any subsequent support on Leon's part as an attempt to get him into bed. On the other hand, if he waited, Cloud might rightfully accuse him of not being honest with him, and anything Leon might have accomplished up to that point would be thrown out as manipulation and lies. So it came down to dealing with constant resistance as Leon helped Cloud heal or running the risk of having it all be for nothing. And then there was the possibility of the scars from Cloud's abuse causing him to just offer himself to Leon like he had done last night, and if that happened, Leon would have to get a firm grip on himself and make sure he didn't give into temptation. It certainly looked to Leon like there was no easy answer to this question.

"Are you finished?"

He looked up to find Cloud standing next to him, the blond's hand hovering next to Leon's mostly empty plate.

"Yeah."

"Okay." The hand closed around the edge of the plate and lifted it to join the one in Cloud's other hand. "I'll clean up then."

Leon couldn't help it. He cocked an eyebrow at Cloud and asked, "You're going to do dishes?"

The blond frowned at him. "It's just putting them in the machine, right? I can do that. I'm not completely helpless in the kitchen."

"Sure, I know. You're really good at loafing around, snatching food, and generally being a pest. You do that very well."

"Leon, I'm currently holding a knife. Yes, it's just a butter knife, but you have nothing at all. Are you sure you want to be antagonizing me right now?"

"Point taken. Carry on."

With a small smile and a shake of his head, Cloud turned and walked to the dishwasher. Leon nursed his coffee and watched him. It was nice to see the blond doing something domestic. It felt normal, like something that could happen on any given day. It was, Leon realized, a wonderful feeling to have.

Once Cloud had filled the machine and started it up, he paused with his hand on the counter and his head slightly drooped. Leon could tell what was coming, even before the other inhaled to begin speaking. He could see it in the curve of his shoulders and the width of his stance. _Dear God, I can read Cloud so well now. I guess it shows just how much I love him._

"Leon, I'm sorry about last night."

"It's okay," he replied calmly. "Forget about it."

Cloud lifted his head in surprise and stared at him. "Forget about it? I _molested_ you."

Leon smiled gently in an attempt to let the other man know that he really wasn't angry. "We all have poor judgment and make bad decisions when we're tired or upset, and you were both."

He had hoped that Cloud would just take his response and accept it, but he had forgotten about the other's pride. At Leon's words, the blond dipped his head so that his hair covered his eyes. The hands that hung at his sides clenched into fists, and his arms began to shake slightly. His lips had twisted into a nasty snarl, and they trembled with emotion. Just as Leon was about to feel afraid that something near him was going to ignite, Cloud exploded.

"I just don't under _stand!_ Why are you so _nice_ to me all the time? I've completely ruined your life! Because of me, you have to leave your house. Because of me, your very life may be in danger. Because of me, there are _machines_ in your _head!_ And what do I do? I try to fucking _rape_ you! No, don't touch me!" Leon had risen and taken a step forward, but Cloud lifted his arms in defense against him and took a step back. His pleading eyes gazed directly into Leon's, trying to get him to understand. "I would have done it, you know. I would have. I knew that you didn't want it, knew that you're straight and still mourning, but I didn't give a shit. All I could think about was easing my own pain."

Leon's heart was bleeding; the self-loathing in Cloud's eyes was killing him. "Cloud …" he tried.

But Cloud wasn't listening. He had shrunk into himself, looking small and fragile as he leaned back against the counter. "I'm like a pestilence, Leon," he said quietly. "Like some sort of disease. I'm so selfish and cowardly that I end up destroying everything I touch. Everything I come close to. I'm a human black plague."

"That's enough," Leon interrupted harshly. He regretted the tone of voice immediately as Cloud flinched and shut his eyes, but he did not regret the sentiment. Cloud's dive into depression and self-hate had gone on far enough; he would end it right now. All his questions and doubts about timing had disappeared. If complications arose, he would deal with them, but Cloud needed to know, now, that someone loved him and forgave him.

"Cloud, what would you say if I told you that having you crash into my bushes is the best thing that's ever happened to me? Excepting perhaps meeting my wife."

Cloud frowned heavily and kept his face turned away. "I would say you're lying just to make me feel better."

"All right. What would you say then if I said that I think more runs in my family than just messy brown hair and a stubborn streak?"

Minutes passed, so many that Leon thought perhaps he had been too subtle. But then, Cloud's eyes opened and he gazed at him with a blank expression of shock. After a moment, he replied, "I would say that you're still lying."

Leon didn't back down or even pause. "Is there any way I can prove it to you?"

Several long, heavy heartbeats passed; then Cloud said, "Yes. There is." Slowly, he straightened himself and stood normally. He looked directly at Leon and instructed, "You can't say a thing. Or move at all. Promise you won't."

"I won't. I promise."

"All right then." Cloud took a step towards Leon. And then another. And another. He closed the distance between them and kept on closing it. The whole time, he kept his eyes locked on Leon's face, and Leon did his best to look back even as the air around him thinned and the temperature rose by several degrees. He thought Cloud was about to kiss him, but then the blond stopped, their faces mere millimeters apart and yet not touching.

Leon shut his eyes and struggled to breathe. He could feel every inch of Cloud's body, not through touch but through the heat the other gave off. His arms and lips burned with the desire to reach out and pull the blond to him, to kiss him until neither of them could stand. But he had promised not to move, so he didn't, calling on every ounce of self-control he had. It was maddening: feeling Cloud's breath on his lips, bringing the warm and moist air into his own mouth and down his throat to his lungs. Intimate parts of him were tightening and swelling, his heart was racing, and his short breaths were quickly becoming panting gasps. But he wasn't allowed to do a thing.

After a moment, Cloud moved. He shifted his footing and brought one leg between Leon's, again not touching but so maddeningly close that Leon's eyes rolled back in his head and he had to bite his tongue to keep from groaning aloud. Cloud's face moved from in front of Leon's to next to it, and he slowly moved his nose and lips from the base of the neck upwards to the ear, touching the tips of Leon's hair ever so slightly, his breath gusting softly over his skin. It had to be the most sensual thing Leon had ever experienced. Moreso than sex itself, for at least the act of foreplay allowed for some release of tension through touch. This kept all of the tension firmly in place while it built and built and didn't stop.

Cloud was testing him; Leon knew it. Testing his ability to keep his promise and respect Cloud's wishes, but also testing the level of his attraction to the blond in response to Leon's last comment. Because of this, Leon didn't fight the feelings of arousal that were running rampant through him. He didn't try to mask his heavy breathing or subdue the faint trembles that shook him out of growing want. Cloud needed to know just how badly he turned Leon on. He needed to know it and believe in it.

After what seemed to Leon like a lifetime of torture, Cloud stepped back and looked at him with wide, stunned eyes. "You're not lying," he murmured.

"No," Leon panted, "I'm not." He took a moment to swallow a few times and shake some of the tension out of his arms and legs. Once he trusted himself to speak again, he added, "I wouldn't lie to you. Not about this."

Cloud had backed off even more, now standing by the sink with his hands on the edge of the counter. He chewed his lip fretfully, his eyes glazed over with concentration. "I … I'm … I'm going to need time to think about this."

"That's fine," Leon assured him. "I still need time myself."

A small smile pulled at the corners of the blond's mouth. His eyes slipped sideways to glance at Leon. "I bet you do," he replied with a bit of teasing.

The other's tone made Leon want to grin like a moron, but he suppressed it. Cloud was just starting to recover from his bout of depression. Acting like an idiot would only scare him. He managed a shrug and commented, "We'll have six hours to think today, and then if that's not enough, I'm sure we'll be able to find a bit of quiet time later. Sora does have classes after all. He can't be there _all_ the time."

To Leon's great delight, Cloud chuckled and stood up straight again. "You make your brother sound like the biggest brat in the history of the world."

"Oh I'm sure a bigger one existed at one time. Somewhere. Now, I'm going to go take a shower, and then we'll pack and get going. All right?"

"But Leon," Cloud cocked his head at him, trying and failing to look innocent; he was definitely back to his normal self, "you already took a shower this morning."

"I need another one," Leon replied calmly, ignoring that smug smile. The damn brat knew exactly why he needed another shower. The evidence was practically waving at him.

Cloud lifted his hand and tapped his chin with a finger. "Hmm, you may be right. Perhaps I'll join you."

Leon's eyes narrowed dangerously. "You do," he stated, "and you die."

He turned sharply on his heel and exited the kitchen. Cloud's ringing laughter followed him all the way down the hall.

xXx

Leon heard Kairi's cry of "Look out, Leon! Incoming!" seconds before his little brother crashed into him.

"Squall! I'm so glad to see you! How was your drive? Any bad traffic? Weather okay? Want me to help carry your bags in? Is this your friend? Hi! I'm Sora. Nice to meet you. Come on in. Kairi's making dinner, so I hope you're hungry. It's some sort of Mexican casserole thing. Do you like Mexican, Squall's friend? I hope so, since it's what she made. I can't cook, you know. Not like my brother. Anyway, give me that and I'll carry it in. Come on!"

He ran off again, carrying a large suitcase in each hand. Cloud stood for a moment beside the car, shell-shocked, as Leon snickered at him.

"Told you so," he laughed. He slipped an arm around Cloud's shoulders and pulled him towards the house. "Come on."

At the door, Kairi held out her hand to Cloud and smiled. "Hi, I'm Kairi, Sora's girlfriend. Don't mind him. He'll calm down in a bit. He's just so excited that Leon came to visit."

"Cloud," the blond replied, taking her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, too," She turned her attention to Leon and asked, "Did you think to bring the air mattress? I forgot we only have the one extra bed. If you didn't, there's the couch, I guess."

"It's okay," he shrugged. "We're adults, and it's a king-size. We'll be fine." Beside him, Cloud's cheeks turned slightly pink, but he pretended not to notice.

"Okay then." She led them inside, and the traditional receiving of guests began, even though it was technically Leon's house. Kairi ushered Cloud to a seat while Sora dealt with the rest of the bags, shooing Leon away when he tried to help. Everyone ended up with a drink, and eventually, they all settled onto the couch and accompanying seats in the living room.

"So, Leon," Kairi smiled as she perched on the armrest of the chair where Sora sat, "how long have you and Cloud been friends? I mean, you never said a word to either of us. How did you meet?"

Leon took a sip of drink and replaced it on an end table before replying, "I've known Cloud about a week. He's a dimension-hopping alien who crashed into my hydrangeas one night. I took him in, patched up his injuries, and now I've decided to help him find a decent life here on Earth."

Next to him on the couch, Cloud choked on his water. As soon as he could breathe again, he turned wide eyes to Leon, not believing what he had heard. Leon just smiled to himself. He knew his family well.

Sora and Kairi were staring at him, blank looks on their faces. Then, Sora sighed and said, "Geez, Squall, if you didn't want to tell us, you could have just said so."

"No, I couldn't have. You would have hounded me mercilessly."

Kairi giggled a bit behind her hands. To Sora, she commented, "I bet it was something completely commonplace. Like they met at the grocery store or something."

"Oh, yeah. In the checkout line. 'Excuse me, but do you realize you have eleven items and this is the ten item or less lane?'" Kairi laughed openly at his imitation of Leon's voice.

Leon picked up his drink and smirked deeply into it. He knew his family very well. Cloud threw him a small look of admiration before returning his attention to Sora and Kairi who were now recreating their entire imagined meeting. As he listened to their completely silly dialogue, Leon couldn't help the small feeling of warmth that blossomed within him. It was actually nice to be home for once.

Dinner was pleasant, and Leon was happy to find that Kairi's cooking had improved. The two of them swapped recipe ideas and other culinary opinions while Sora talked Cloud's ear off about how great it had been growing up with Leon as a brother. Only once did Sora try to gain information about Cloud, but the blond simply played along with the "alien" idea and Sora promptly dropped it. He was having too much fun bringing out every embarrassing memory he could to care much anyway.

After dinner, Sora helped Kairi clean up while Leon and Cloud waiting in the living room. Leon relaxed on the couch, but the blond roamed around the room, looking at the family pictures and making the occasional comment.

"Your hair is so much shorter," he said, pointing to Leon's wedding photo.

"Yeah, my mother insisted that I get it cut. Biggest day of my life and all that. She wanted me to look presentable."

"I like it better the way it is now," Cloud remarked idly. "It suits you."

The soft, almost affectionate tones of the other's voice provoked a mild blush to appear on Leon's cheeks. He hid it by pretending to cough and turning away in the process. But when Cloud spoke again, the difference in his voice made Leon turn back quickly.

"Who's this?" The question held a note of surprise and alarm, and the finger that pointed to the photograph shook just slightly enough to be visible.

Leon stood and walked over to Cloud's side so that he could see where the blond indicated. He had found a picture of Sora when he was eight years old. His little brother grinned happily at the camera, one of his arms slung around the shoulders of another boy, slightly older with honey-blond hair and ice blue eyes. The smile on the other child's face was a bit smaller and had a tinge of cockiness to it.

"That's Riku," Leon answered the question. "He was Sora's best friend for years. They were damn near inseparable."

"Riku," Cloud repeated. He had closed down his face to Leon, carefully guarding his thoughts away. "Was Sora's best friend? What happened?"

"Well …" Leon hesitated, unsure as to whether he should reveal his brother's past sadness.

"He disappeared," Sora's voice broke in, taking the decision away from Leon. The smiling brunet stood in the doorway, and when they turned to look at him, he strolled forward until he stood between them. He hooked his thumbs in his pants pockets and rocked back and forth on his heels.

"Disappeared?" Cloud inquired, still stone-faced.

"Yeah. It was one of those awful 'kid snatched out of his own bedroom in the middle of the night' things. No one knows what happened. There were never any ransom demands, and they never found his body. He just vanished."

"My sympathies."

Sora smiled even more. "It's okay. I'm not sad. Everyone else has given him up for dead, but I believe he's still alive somewhere. I figure he blocked out everything that happened to him so he doesn't remember me or Kairi or where he used to live. That's why he doesn't let us know he's okay. But I still think he is. Somewhere. And I think that someday, the three of us will be back together again."

Leon reached out and ruffled Sora's hair affectionately. "It's been twelve years, almost thirteen. Even his parents have given up hope and moved on."

"I know," Sora replied. "I just think that if he had died, I would have felt it. You know. Here." He covered his heart with one hand. "Kairi thinks so, too." His bright eyes turned to Cloud as he asked, "What do you think? Squall thinks I'm nuts. Do you?"

To Leon's surprise, Cloud answered in a low tone, "No. I don't think you're nuts, Sora. But …" His eyes lifted and bored into the photograph before him. "I do think you should give up hope of ever seeing him again. It's been so long. He's probably changed so much that you wouldn't recognize him even if you did meet."

Sora considered this for a moment before shrugging. "That's okay. I'd still be happy to see him again. I really doubt Riku could have changed enough for me to not want to be his friend."

Cloud smiled, but Leon could tell that it was forced. "Well then, I hope you find him someday." He turned from the photos and walked away, leaving Leon to wonder what had happened to destroy the blond's good mood so quickly and completely. As Sora wandered off to find Kairi, he looked again at the picture -- at the blond hair shining in the sun and the blue eyes crinkled slightly with a smile -- and shivered. He had no idea why.


	9. The Difference

"So, did you do enough thinking, or do you still need more time?"

Cloud looked up at Leon from where he sat on the bed, taking off his shoes. He pinked slightly at the question and looked away in spite of the encouraging smile he received.

"I … still need more time."

"Okay. That's fine." Leon shut the drawer he had just filled with clothes and bent to zip up the empty suitcase so that he could throw it in the closet. "Take all the time you need."

He was halfway through the second suitcase before Cloud responded, his voice hesitant and awkward. "Do you? Need more time, that is."

Leon lifted his head and looked at his new bedmate. The blond was gnawing at his lip again, almost viciously, and his hand kept rubbing a spot on the side of his neck. The pink had deepened to a rose color, and his eyes swam with a mixture of fear and curiosity.

"No," he answered. "I don't."

The rose was now a definite red. "Are you willing to share your conclusions?"

"Are you?"

"I haven't made any."

"Your thought process then, as far as it's gotten."

"If you go first."

Leon chuckled at Cloud's blatant nervousness. He shut the drawer he was filling, then the suitcase, and walked over to join the other on the bed. Cloud made room for him, scooting backwards almost skittishly. Leon settled himself a fair distance away to ease his anxiety. He leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and his hands dangling together between his legs.

"Okay. I had two issues. The first was my conversion from straight to bi. I was raised with an open mind, and my little brother is already bi, so there was never any prejudice in my mind. No shame or anything. It was just surprising to go from one to the other so suddenly." He glanced at Cloud to find the blond listening attentively. He nodded once to encourage Leon to continue. "I kind of thought that if I was bi, I should have been attracted to men before this, and the fact that I wasn't was a bit disturbing. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized it didn't matter. I'm attracted to you, and it's that simple." He grinned a bit, feeling his face burn slightly. "You _know_ how much I'm attracted to you."

Cloud smirked and lowered his eyes. His red color had nearly disappeared, but now it flared a little once more. "Yeah. I know."

"So that left the second issue: Rinoa." He sighed and shifted his position so that his hands were behind him, supporting himself as he leaned back and gazed at the ceiling. "I've been mourning her and missing her every day for five years. The thought of replacing her, honestly, makes me feel a bit sick. But the thing is, if I give up this chance because of my feelings for her, she may very well come back to life just to kick my ass." Cloud laughed quietly, and Leon had to smile as well. He shifted his eyes to the other man and asked, "Do you remember how she died? The night I told you, a whole bunch of stuff happened so it wouldn't surprise me if you forgot."

"I remember," Cloud replied. "You said a plane crashed into the building where she was and it fell down."

"That's right." He returned to staring at the ceiling as he continued, "She was on a floor above the impact point, which meant she couldn't escape. The fire was just too intense to get past. So she curled up next to a broken window, as close to the floor as she could get so as to avoid breathing too much smoke, and called me on her phone. I was damn near hysterical the whole time, but she stayed calm through it all." He shut his eyes and let his head fall back as far as was comfortable. "She was so strong, Cloud. I often wonder if I could have been that strong, if I can face death like that when my turn comes."

A warmth covered Leon's hand, and he opened his eyes to find that Cloud had moved closer to him. He had placed a comforting hand over Leon's and sat there with an encouraging and accepting expression on his face. Almost without thinking, Leon flipped his hand over so that their palms touched and slid his fingers through Cloud's. The blond did not pull his hand away; in fact, his fingers tightened ever so slightly.

"She told me," Leon went on, "that she didn't think she was going to make it. I argued with her, told her to try to get to the roof like so many others were doing. She refused. Instead, she said very clearly that once she was gone she wanted me, not to necessarily go looking for someone else, but to be open to the possibility of loving again. Then she just talked about our memories and how much she loved me, almost as if she knew that her voice was the only thing keeping me from going insane. And then, I saw it: the top of the building start to come down. Seconds before she knew it was happening, I saw it. But before I could even breathe, she was screaming and then the line went dead, and all I could do was watch it come down and all turn to dust and scream and scream until my voice gave out."

"Gods, Leon …" Cloud breathed. "No wonder you have nightmares."

"I haven't had them since the night I told you, though," he replied seriously. "Not one." When Cloud blinked at him in surprise, he continued, "It's almost as if she forced those dreams on me, pushing me until I broke and talked to you about it. As if she knew that, once I had opened up to you and you had opened up to me, I would have no choice but to … to fall for you."

"Fall …" the blond echoed, "… for me?"

"Yeah." It felt so easy and natural to say it. He couldn't help but smile. "So that's why I decided that, even though I may have the occasional stab of guilt, I want to be with you and try a relationship if you want one. And if you don't feel the same way towards me, I still want to stick with you until this is over. Most importantly, I want you to be happy and freed from all of this fear and pain. Because … I love you."

"You … love me?"

Leon didn't miss the inflection of the words, and the sentiment behind them made his smile turn a little sad. "Yes, Cloud Strife. I love _you_."

Flustered, Cloud turned away. He retrieved his hand from Leon's and rubbed at his neck. In a shaky voice, he demanded, "How can you say that so easily? Isn't that supposed to be, you know, a difficult admission?"

"I've had practice," Leon told him. "Remember, I was married to a woman who actually enjoyed the stuff I write. If I didn't say it at least three times a day, she'd twist my arm until I did."

That brought a chuckle out of the other man. "I would have loved to have seen that. You sound almost whipped."

"Excuse me? I was _not_ whipped."

"Sure you weren't."

"All right, enough of this shit. I've told you everything that's been going through my head. Now it's your turn."

Cloud's eyes widened and flickered with a bit of nervousness once more. His hand started working at his neck again. "My turn," he murmured to himself.

"Why are you doing that?" Leon asked, watching the way the blond's fingers probed at his skin. "Does your neck hurt?"

"Yeah," Cloud replied with a mild grimace. "Ever since the car ride. Must have been that nap I took."

"Do you want me to give you a neck massage?"

"Uh, no. I think that would be a bad idea, actually."

"Why?"

Cloud threw him a sheepish glance before replying, "Well, we already know how attracted you are to me, and I have to admit that I feel the same about you. So a massage at this point wouldn't be the smartest thing."

Leon's heart leapt at Cloud's confession, but he kept his joy from showing in any other way than a small smile. "I can control myself," he assured the other. "We established that this morning."

"Yeah, but I don't know if I can."

"Tell you what, if you try to make a move on me, I'll crack you one across the head."

Finally, Cloud smiled and relaxed a bit. "All right," he relented. "But only because this hurts like a bitch."

It took a moment to find a position where both were comfortable, but once they had, Leon began to carefully work on Cloud's neck muscles, and Cloud tried to talk.

"I'm not really sure where to start. My thoughts have been kind of chaotic. And I have more than just two issues."

"Well, you said you return my feelings of attraction if not the rest. When did that start?"

"Since I first saw you." Leon was amused to see the ears in front of him turning red again. "After all," Cloud tried to defend himself, "you're extremely good-looking."

"So are you."

"Yeah, but I'm enhanced. I used to be pretty plain." When Leon snorted, he said, "No, really. I was." He took a breath, and when he spoke again, it seemed as if something had unlocked within him. "Your looks are just so natural and real, and I'd been living in a world of tech and chemicals for so long that it just took my breath away. And on top of that, you were kind and considerate without being overbearing or intrusive. You just seemed perfect to me. But you were straight, so I wrote you off as someone to fantasize about but to never actually expect to have.

"And then this morning happened, and suddenly you weren't unattainable anymore. But it wasn't as simple anymore either because instead of being just a fuck-fantasy, you were my friend, and that was more important to me than anything else." He sighed and paused to rub some tiredness out of his eyes. "I don't want to lose your friendship, Leon. Not for anything."

"I agree," Leon assured him. His hands were beginning to cramp so he stopped massaging and just rested them on Cloud's shoulders.

"Yeah," the blond continued the conversation. "And let's face it, I'm a mess. I mean, even if we forget for the moment that I'm being hunted by a lunatic who thinks he owns me like I'm some piece of furniture …"

"Sure, we can forget that for the moment."

"… I'm still a mess. I look at myself, and then I look at you, and I just feel like I don't --"

Leon cut him off, moving a hand to the back of his head. "If you say you don't deserve me, I'm going to yank on this pretty blond hair so hard that I wouldn't be surprised if most of it came out."

Cloud paused for a moment, but then decided to risk the possibility of a bald spot. "But it's how I feel, Leon. I look at myself and I don't like what I see. I see something ugly and weak and completely undeserving of the simple kindness you've shown me. The thought that I could have more, that I could have _you_ is just … it's just …"

"Cloud," Leon interrupted gently, "do you want to know what I see when I look at you?" The blond only shuddered, so he pushed on, "Forget that, I'm telling you anyway. I see a pure and beautiful heart that's been torn out and trampled on time after time, and yet in spite of that has managed to retain its beauty, so much so that I can only stand in awe of it. You say you're weak; I say you're stronger than you know."

Clearly unimpressed, Cloud asked, "Did you get that from one of your novels?"

Growling with frustration, Leon used his position in relation to the other to his advantage, pulling the blond back against his chest and yanking his face around so he could look directly into those surprised blue eyes. "I'm absolutely serious. You think you're ugly? I think you're heart-breakingly beautiful, both inside and out. So much so that I sometimes feel plain and common in comparison."

Cloud's wide eyes blinked at him. The bridge of his nose was rapidly turning pink. Leon suddenly realized just what position he had put them in -- Cloud's body was pressed against his, their faces close enough to feel each other's breath on their skin, one of Leon's hands holding onto Cloud's chin and the other wrapped around his waist. Carefully, he detached his fingers from the blond's face and dropped his hand. Cloud did not move. In fact, the pink receded and he smiled a little.

"Should I be insulted that you chose such a feminine adjective to describe me?" he asked with a hint of teasing.

Now it was Leon's turn to blink, but he quickly realized that Cloud's change of attitude was because he felt comfortable in Leon's arms. And truly, Leon felt exactly the same. There was nothing awkward about holding Cloud. It felt perfectly natural. With restored confidence, Leon lifted his hand again, but instead of using it to hold the blond's head in place, he slid his fingers into the other's hair and used his thumb to explore that smooth cheek and proud jaw. "Be insulted if you want," he replied. "But it's what you are."

Cloud closed his eyes and relaxed further against Leon. He smirked slightly as he remarked, "This is why I didn't want a massage."

Leon chuckled; the other hadn't sounded the slightest bit unhappy or regretful. "I'll let you go if you want."

"I don't want," the blond replied immediately. "In fact …" His eyes opened again, and Leon inhaled sharply at the flickers of green that were swimming wildly in the familiar blue. "… I have a feeling there's going to be a head injury in my future." And before Leon could comment, he had reached up, grabbed the back of Leon's head, and forced the distance between them to close.

Leon knew he was supposed to be the one to stop this, but as soon as Cloud's lips met his, all of his self-control evaporated. They didn't even bother with starting off innocent, diving immediately into an open-mouthed kiss that ignited thousands of fires all along Leon's skin. He ran his tongue brazenly through all the corners of the other's mouth that he could reach, relishing the familiar drunken feeling that fogged his brain and fueled the burning fires. After a moment, he pulled back for a small break, but Cloud refused to let him go, clamping down on Leon's bottom lip with his teeth, not hard enough to hurt but enough to trap it within the blond's mouth. The action ripped a low moan from Leon's throat; he yanked his lip free and pushed forward for another kiss. Cloud's tongue met his halfway, and they twisted against each other sensually before their lips sealed their bodies together again.

Leon simply couldn't get enough of Cloud. He wanted to drink him in until he was overflowing. This was nothing like kissing Rinoa, nothing like the kisses he wrote about in his novels. Rinoa had always been happy to be the one being kissed, to allow him into her mouth and let him have his way with her lips and tongue. Cloud had no intention of allowing himself to simply be invaded. He fought back with a passion that let Leon know that while he was devouring the blond, he was also being devoured at the same time. It drove Leon wild. The hand that had held Cloud's face began to move. Even though his brain knew that sex would be a very bad idea at this stage of their relationship, he couldn't help himself from exploring the expanse of the blond's chest and slowly moving downwards.

When his fingers lightly brushed the warm flesh trapped within Cloud's pants, however, he suddenly found himself staring into wide, frightened eyes with one hand gripping his wrist so hard that it hurt and another firmly around his throat, the fingers just loose enough that he could still breathe if he concentrated. The blond in front of him was panting, but not from passion; the expression on his face made it very clear that his desire had been doused by the bucket of cold panic that Leon had dumped over top of him.

After a long minute where Leon didn't move for fear of being choked, Cloud began to relax. His fingers uncurled and his hands retreated; they pulled in close to his body which slumped forward in shame. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

"No," Leon assured him. "I should be the one apologizing. I shouldn't have pushed."

Cloud shook his head and pulled into himself even more. "No, I wanted you to. But as soon as you touched me … I started having … flashbacks."

Leon winced. He had refrained from trying to comfort the other physically, but now he circled his arms around Cloud's body, joining his hands together around the other's waist, and leaned his head against the blond's shoulder. "It's okay," he murmured. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"I know," Cloud replied quietly. He shifted slightly in Leon's embrace, letting himself fall backwards into Leon's arms, but not loosening the grip he held on himself. "It's just that I can't remember the last time anyone touched me without the intent to break me down and make me scream -- and not in a good way. And even though I knew you weren't going to hurt me, I couldn't stop my reaction. I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Leon repeated. "I understand."

"You say that, but I'm a grown man who's afraid to have sex. How pathetic is that?"

"It's not pathetic," Leon argued. He tightened his grip around the other and sighed. Regardless of what Cloud thought, Leon didn't feel this hurdle was all that gigantic. In fact, he thought he could probably break it down easily. Assuming that he could get the blond to just _relax_. "Did you have any boyfriends on your old planet?" he asked.

"No. I had a crush on Zack for a while, but he didn't return it so it stayed a crush."

"So apart from Sephiroth, there's been no one?"

"Well, no. I had some one-night stands here and there. A couple of women, too, before I decided I just wasn't interested."

"But no one's actually made love to you before."

Leon could feel Cloud's confusion through his body language even before his voice scolded, "You weren't listening. I said I've had one-night stands. You tend to do more than kiss for those. And Seph forced me into sex nearly every day."

"I'm not talking about having sex. I'm talking about making love."

"Gods, Leon." He could just imagine the eyeroll Cloud was giving him. "Please don't tell me you think they're two separate things."

"They are two separate things. I'm a romance novelist, remember? I make love for a living."

"Well, then, Mr. Heartilly," Cloud said, his voice heavy with disdain, "what's the difference between having sex and making love?"

"Well since you asked so nicely …" He waited for the blond's snort and smiled when he got it. "When you have sex, you're concerned mostly with your own gratification. Yes, you want the other person to enjoy it as well, but your focus is mainly on yourself. It's much more of an animalistic and instinctual feeling. But when you make love …" Leon moved his head so that he talked against the skin underneath Cloud's right ear. "When you make love to someone your focus is entirely on him." He unhooked his hands and ran them down Cloud's arms, encouraging the other to let go of the tension that kept him curled up in a ball. "His pleasure," he whispered, smiling as the blond began to relax against him. "His desires. If you get something out of it yourself, that's just a bonus. That's not why you do it, though. You do it solely for the other's enjoyment." Leon's hands now moved to Cloud's legs, pushing against them gently so that they would lie flat again. "And believe me," he continued, pausing to place a soft kiss against the blond's jaw, "it can be very enjoyable to experiment and discover all the little tricks and nuances that send your lover into ecstasy. To listen to the sounds he makes and try to figure out what you have to do to elicit those sounds and then drive them to the next level."

Cloud let his head fall back against Leon's shoulder, eyes closed, breathing steady, body relaxed and open. Leon took the other's face in his hand once more and began to turn it towards him, kissing a trail towards his mouth in between words. "The only purpose of making love … is to ensure that your lover … knows exactly how much you love him … by giving him … the most amazing … mind-blowing experience … he's ever had … in his entire life."

Leon dropped his lips upon Cloud's, and the blond did not hesitate in welcoming him. Their tongues moved against each other in a slow, lazy kiss that spoke volumes of how deeply they cared for each other and trusted one another. After several long minutes, Leon began moving his hand again, tracing a curving line down the other's chest. This time, however, as he neared the bottom he found Cloud's hand and brought it along with him so that the hand touching him through the fabric of his pants was Cloud's own. The blond tensed slightly and gasped into Leon's mouth, but he did not try to throttle Leon this time or even stop him. Eventually, he relaxed again and his breathing quickened; his participation in the kiss faltered as he touched himself, Leon's fingers covering his own and occasionally guiding them slightly.

When Cloud began to moan softly in the back of his throat, Leon pulled back and caught his gaze. "I know this is difficult for you, but I want you to willingly put yourself in my hands. I want you to let go and just trust me. Right now, your mind is equating sex with pain and coercion, so let me make love to you. Let me make love to you again and again until I've erased that equation and replaced it with one that links sex to love and pleasure. You're not giving up control because all you have to do is say one word and I'll stop. So let go and leave everything to me. Please."

Blue eyes watched him for a tense moment, the bits of green still flickering in the background. But then the eyes closed and Cloud nodded. He let himself go limp against Leon's body with an expression so peaceful and trusting that it hurt. Someone who didn't know Cloud might have called it submissive, but Leon knew better. The blond was pulling down his walls and offering himself up to Leon's care, risking the possibility of being hurt on the belief that he wouldn't be. It only served to increase Leon's opinion of Cloud's strength and make him love him even more, if that was possible.

Gently, Leon began to kiss Cloud again as he guided the blond's hand away from his arousal and towards his waistband. He held the fabric in place while Cloud undid the button and pulled down the zipper. Leon's other hand, previously busy with holding Cloud's body to his, moved downwards to help the other two push clothing around until the blond's erection stood free. After finding Cloud's hand again, Leon brought it to the base and helped wrap the fingers around it; his other hand encased the blond's fingers from the other side so that Cloud's entire hand was trapped by Leon's warm grip. He took a moment to allow Cloud to adjust to the sensation and then encouraged him to begin to move.

Almost as soon as their three hands began to slide up and down, Cloud pulled his face out of the kiss, needing the extra oxygen. He rested his head against Leon's shoulder and panted quietly as Leon kissed him on the eyelids and between the brows. Soft moans brewed and built within the blond's throat, and he bit his lip to keep them in check. But when Leon shifted his left hand to be above their rights, ensuring that all of Cloud's length was encased throughout the entire stroke, he lost control of them and they began to escape from his lips, one after the other. Soon after, to Leon's surprise and delight, Cloud removed his hand from under Leon's and instead reached down on either side of him to grab up great fistfuls of sheets. He rolled his head to the other side, exposing his neck to Leon who attacked it greedily.

If Leon had had any lingering doubts about his feelings towards Cloud, this would have obliterated them. The man fascinated him. Rinoa had been a talker, calling his name again and again and telling him exactly when she needed it faster or harder. Cloud said nothing, not even a single desire-laden moan of his name. But the sounds he did make were a language unto themselves. Little gasps when a new sensation struck him, quiet moans of appreciation that seemed to escape without his consent, and when he started getting close, amazingly sensual double or triple rapid-fire inhalations followed by a longer exhalation that carried just a hint of vocalization that was so full of need and desire that it made Leon's head swim with pleasure. He had to bite his lip to keep from moaning himself so that he could hear every last one of them.

A quick series of gasps of rapidly increasing pitch alerted Leon to what was happening just before Cloud arched his body away from him and momentarily stilled, his trembling limbs the only movement in his body. Under his hand, Leon felt Cloud's muscles contract rhythmically, so he stopped his strokes and just held on tightly until it stopped. Used to Rinoa's screams, Leon was utterly amazed at Cloud's silent orgasm; the blond had even stopped breathing. And when he finally came down and relaxed against Leon again, he simply turned his face into Leon's neck and sighed.

Leon was shaking. From his own unattended arousal, yes, but mainly from the waves of powerful feelings that were crashing over him. Blinking back tears, he pressed his face against the top of Cloud's head. "You're so beautiful," he whispered, not caring if it upset the other or not. "You're so beautiful, it _hurts_. I love you so much. I … I …"

Against his neck, Cloud smiled. "Stupid sappy romance novelist," he murmured.

Leon laughed, a wonderful, cleansing release of laughter that chased away the desperation that had been threatening him. He continued to hold Cloud for a few minutes, but then excused himself so that he could go wash off his hands. By the time he returned from the bathroom, the blond had fallen asleep -- holding Leon's pillow. Somehow Leon managed to get them both under the covers without waking Cloud up, and as he curled up next to his love and lover, he couldn't resist a final kiss and a whispered promise: "Everything's all right now. No one will ever hurt you again."


	10. Be My Savior

They had a week and a half of peace. During the day, they hung out with Sora and Kairi, listening to the younger two chatter and occasionally making comments. Cloud became an expert at throwing in little digs about the famous novelist Leon Heartilly, and Leon found out, to his extreme pleasure, that Cloud was ticklish just under his ribcage and that he could make the blond jump nearly a half a foot by pinching that spot as he walked past. Whenever Leon needed time to write, Kairi would kidnap Cloud and put him to work around the house. Sora was cute and sweet and she loved him, she proclaimed, but having someone tall and strong around was just fantastic. Leon would occasionally protest that he was tall and strong, too, but Kairi would just pat him on the head with a smile, remind him of his approaching deadline, and walk away, dragging Cloud by the hand behind her.

When Sora and Kairi went to classes or spent time with their own social circle, Leon and Cloud would practice sparring in the backyard. Leon had natural talent, but he needed discipline, and Cloud needed to work his body back to the point where it had been before he was injured. Crossing swords with Cloud was exhilarating, Leon found, although it surprised him to see the flickers of green return to the other's eyes as they fought.

"It's the nanotech," Cloud explained when Leon asked him about it. "Yours turn a bit green, too, although you obviously can't see it."

"You're kidding!"

"No. The green color signifies that a program is running. The fighting packages are involuntary programs, ones that mimic learned behavior. Their complexity level is pretty low. The Skywalker packages, however, are extremely complicated and need to be activated by thought which is why my eyes turn completely green when I use them."

"Then what about the green I see when you're aroused?"

Cloud flushed bright red at that and nearly dropped First Tsurugi. It took him several tries to stammer out, "There are sex packages as well."

Leon didn't mean to laugh, but he couldn't help himself. Cloud took it like a good sport for about half a minute; then he swung his sword at Leon's head.

During the day, even when Sora and Kairi weren't around, they continued to be simply good friends, but at night, they became devoted lovers and Leon would resume his quest to help Cloud get over his fears about love, sex, and intimacy. It became routine for them to say goodnight to Sora and Kairi, wander to their room without any visible hurry, and go inside and shut the door; then, at the small click that sounded when Leon flipped the lock, Cloud would pin him up against the wall and proceed to kiss him senseless. The blond tried more than once to pleasure Leon, but Leon always stopped him. "Until you can handle me touching you without first tensing and having to go through a process of calming down, until then, it's all about you." He even refused to take off any of his clothes while they made out, which annoyed Cloud to no end. But then Leon would drive away all arguments by making the blond incapable of coherent thought.

On the second night, Leon convinced Cloud to strip naked for him, and he spent almost an entire hour exploring the other man's body. The blond had so many scars, from battle and other equally unpleasant things, and Leon touched and kissed them all. On the third night, he replaced his hand with his mouth and found out that Cloud did in fact occasionally make noise when he came and that the sound was unbearably delicious. On the fourth night, the wing emerged, unbidden, and smacked Leon across the face as it appeared. Cloud sputtered apology after apology, but Leon was thrilled. He immediately started petting it, having wanted to touch it again ever since that first early morning. It was then he discovered that Cloud had lied: touching his wing was far more erotic to him than just running fingers through his hair, and in particular, the place where the wing joined his back drove him mad. Cloud came three times that night.

On the fifth night, Cloud did not tense when Leon touched him. When he realized he had conquered his involuntary reaction, the blond looked at Leon with a glint in his eye that made him swallow with a mixture of apprehension and anticipation. Before he knew what was happening, Leon found himself being stripped and thrown onto the bed by a one-winged angel who then proceeded to deep throat him until he came hard, biting his hand to keep from screaming aloud and alerting Sora and Kairi to their activities. On the sixth night, Cloud did not attack him; instead, the blond placed a hand on the one that had just locked the door, lifted his gaze, and said, "I love you, Leon." That night and each one following, they made love to each other before falling asleep, sated and content, in each other's arms. Not once did they speak of going "all the way"; they both knew that neither was ready for that.

The day after Cloud had made his confession, Leon sent an email to his editor. He enclosed the final four chapters of his novel and instructed him to announce that this book would be his last. He then opened up a new document on his computer and began an outline completely different from the ones he was used to making. He told no one about his new project, not even Cloud.

For ten days, Leon lived in a state of near paradise. He felt truly happy for the first time in years. He smiled so much that Sora asked him more than once if he was sick, a question which always earned the little brunet a round of tickle torture. Better than Leon's own happiness, however, was the smile that Cloud gave him whenever their eyes met. Nearly all of the blond's fear had melted away; he rarely checked the PHS anymore. If not for their daily sparring matches and the presence of that wing that he loved so much, Leon could have easily believed that he had picked up his lover in the checkout line just as his brother and almost-sister-in-law surmised and that things like Skywalkers and alternate dimensions did not exist.

And yet, Leon knew in his heart that it could not last forever. The afternoon of the eleventh day proved him correct.

"When are you going to tell Sora about us?"

They stood in the backyard, resting after a bout of yardwork that Kairi had dumped on them. Leon leaned against a tall oak tree with crossed arms while Cloud stood in front of him, enjoying the breeze that ruffled his messy hair.

"How does never sound?" Leon answered Cloud's question with one of his own.

The blond snorted at him. "What? You ashamed of me?"

"No," Leon assured him with a smile. "I'll happily show you off to everyone in the world. Except Sora."

Cloud laughed at him. "Don't tell me you're afraid of getting teased by your little brother."

"You bet your ass I am. He's vicious."

Cloud laughed some more but stopped when Leon reached out for him and drew him close. He smirked, flicked his glance to the house to make sure no one was peeking out through the windows, and leaned forward to claim the lips that Leon was offering. Since his position against the tree made him the shorter one, Leon tilted his head and allowed Cloud to dominate him. It was an interesting dance, he thought as the blond invaded his mouth. The constant push and pull that they both did, neither one willing to relinquish control all the time. And yet, in spite of the delicate balance that their personalities forced them to maintain, they had yet to have any problems or even any awkwardness. Leon supposed it had to do with the love they felt for one another.

They kissed for several minutes before an unfamiliar voice stopped them.

"Well, isn't that a pretty sight?"

Cloud ripped his face away from Leon with a startled gasp. Briefly, Leon saw the flicker of recognition in his eyes before the blond turned his head away and towards the one who had spoken. Leon turned to look as well and saw a young man leaning against the far side of the nearby fence. He looked about Sora's age, certainly no older than twenty-one or twenty-two, and smiled at them with far too much innocence. He was undoubtedly a Skywalker. Leon could tell from the inhuman good-looks -- a perfect, athletic body, a face far too beautiful to be called handsome, and soft-looking silver hair that brushed his shoulders and hung down into his shining green eyes. That and the wicked-looking black sword that rested against his thigh while his arms were crossed over the top rail of the fence.

To Leon's surprise, Cloud's hand planted itself on the tree next to his head and his body moved closer to Leon's as if in protection. His eyes narrowed dangerously as he looked at the stranger. "You," he growled.

"Me," the other replied with a grin. He tipped his head in a way that would have been flirtatious if not for the coldness in his eyes. "You've been a _bad_ little puppet, Cloud. Brother is very unhappy."

A low hiss escaped through Cloud's clenched teeth, and Leon saw him reach for the sword that wasn't there. It was in the trunk of Leon's car along with his own. Very slowly, Leon began to ease the keys to his car out of his pocket; to distract the stranger, he asked, "How did you find us?"

The young man's eyes lit up with pride. "Ah yes, I suppose I should thank you for that. Imagine our surprise when, after searching for the puppet for so long, his fingerprint starts popping up on the path again, in and out of folds without any sort of pattern. The others, they all ran after the prints immediately, but I thought to myself, 'The puppet isn't stupid. His trail didn't just become faint; it went completely cold. And now he's jumping around again without trying to hide at all? I don't think so.' And then I remembered that Zack and Reno were looking for the puppet as well, so I followed _their_ trail for the past few weeks." He grinned wickedly, all traces of innocence destroyed. "And I _found_ it, Cloud. The very faint print in this fold. If you hadn't sent Zack and Reno around to place false trails, I'm sure Yazoo would have gotten to it first, but because you did, I get to take you home and keep Brother's gratitude all to myself."

The way the stranger kept calling Cloud "puppet" made Leon's blood boil, but he kept it in check for now. Gently, he nudged Cloud's thigh with his knee. When the blond threw a look his way, he tilted his head to the hand that held his keys. Cloud looked back to the stranger, but his hand came down from the side of the tree and slowly made its way to Leon's hand. The plan had been set: once the fighting started, Leon would keep the young man busy while Cloud got the swords. It was risky, but they had few options and Leon wasn't about to let Cloud get near their enemy without a weapon.  
  
Cloud's hand closed around Leon's and squeezed gently before he removed the keys. "That explains how you got to this fold," he said to the young man still leaning on the fence, "but how did you get here?"

"That part was easy," he replied with a shrug. "All I had to do was ask the neighbor. 'Excuse me, madam, but I'm looking for a good friend of mine who was visiting your neighbor. Do you know where they are now? At his brother's house? Oh, I see. Where is that exactly? Thank you so much, madam, I really do appreciate all your help.' Oh, she was _so_ happy to help such a _polite_ and _handsome_ young man such as I."

To Leon's surprise, Cloud growled dangerously. "I don't care if you are brainwashed and as much a victim as I am," he snarled. "If you hurt Dr. Kadowaki, I will tear you apart."

"Brainwashed?" the other laughed. "Silly, silly puppet. Serving Brother is an _honor_. I _live_ for his approval."

"I know you do," Cloud whispered, and Leon could hear the pain in his voice.

The other had not heard. He sighed, "Brother's been so very sad without his puppet to play with. To think that I'll be the one to bring the smile back to his face. Me. The youngest. The one the others look down on." His eyes flashed with a mixture of past anger and future hope. They latched hungrily onto the blond, and he declared, "You're coming home, Cloud. Now."

"Sorry," Cloud replied casually, "but I don't think so." Quickly, he pressed a kiss to Leon's mouth and then pulled back and whispered, "Please, don't die." The next second, he was gone, flying across the grass towards the car.

The silver-haired stranger growled and, taking hold of his sword, leapt the fence in a single, easy jump. Leon was ready for him, though, and before he could land, Leon had slammed into him, gripping the wrist that held the sword firmly so that the other couldn't slash at him. They hit the ground hard, but Leon kept his hold. Snarling like a wild thing, the young man wrestled with Leon, throwing punches and kicks at him which Leon blocked as best he could. This close to the other, he noticed to his shock that the young man's green eyes were slitted like a snake. And something about the shape of the stranger's face seemed familiar to him, like a distant memory hidden at the back of his mind.

"Leon!" Cloud cried, his voice approaching once more.

At the unvoiced direction, Leon let the stranger go, pushing away into a backwards leap and flipping mid-air to sail over Cloud as the blond rushed at the young man. He landed next to the Gunblade which Cloud had stuck in the ground on his way past. As he pulled it out, he heard the clash of the other two's blades signal the beginning of their battle, and he wasted no time in joining them. He and Cloud had never discussed combined strategies -- all their sparring had been against each other, not together against a third opponent -- but Leon felt the familiar pinging in his muscles as previously unused programs began to activate. Apparently, Zack had thought of everything. Cloud's movements suddenly became second nature to him, and he flowed into the other's tactics as if he had always fought side-by-side with his lover.

The stranger was an excellent fighter, far better than either of them alone. He had a wild agility that saved him more than once, and he seemed to be dancing rather than fighting as he flipped and turned. Every time Leon saw an opening, the black sword appeared before he could complete his strike, and several times, he saw it coming for him with only seconds to spare. Cloud seemed to be faring better, but even he couldn't break through the other's defenses.

Without warning, the back door flew open. "Squall! Cloud!" Sora cried as he and Kairi ran out into the yard.

"Stay back!" Cloud ordered. Surprisingly, Sora did as he was told. He and Kairi hung back by the door and watched in horror as the battle progressed.

After several more minutes of fighting, Leon managed to connect with the stranger's sword and hold it just long enough to give Cloud an opening. The silver-haired man sprang away from Cloud's thrust, but the edge of Cloud's sword managed to slice open a sizeable cut along their opponent's leg before he could get completely out of the way. The young man flipped a good distance away and paused, clutching his leg and snarling at them. His pretty face had contorted terribly, and his slitted eyes flashed like lightning.

"I've had enough!" he cried. "I'm ending this right now!"

His eyes glowed brilliant emerald green.

"Shit," Cloud commented.

Six white wings, three on each side, erupted from the stranger's back. From her place near the house, Kairi screamed.

"Are we in trouble?" Leon asked quietly.

"Yeah," Cloud replied in a similar tone.

Now airborne, the stranger looked down at them and sneered. He lifted his weapon into an attack pose and then, without warning or preamble, dove directly at Leon. The Gunblade, which moments before had felt so light and fluid, suddenly was far too heavy and slow to be able to block the way Leon wanted it to. Or perhaps it was simply his mind that was too slow to keep up with the stranger's wicked attacks as they sliced at him mercilessly. That black sword was everywhere, and it took everything Leon had just to defend himself. Cloud attempted to come to his rescue, but the young man sent him flying with a kick to the stomach. Leon wanted to call out to his lover, but he couldn't spare the breath or concentration. A cut opened up on his arm, and then another on his cheek. And still the attacks kept coming and didn't stop or even slow down.

And then, the stranger held the Gunblade with his own sword in a locking of blades that made Leon's arms start to shake. From over the top of that black metal, green eyes gleamed at him. "I'm going to kill you," the stranger whispered joyfully. "And then I'm going to take the puppet back to Brother, and together we'll _feast_ on him." His tongue slipped out of his mouth and glided over his lips in a slow, sickening circle. He chuckled at the expression on Leon's face. "Don't like that thought, do you? Should I take you back with us? Should I let you _watch?_ "

Crying out with effort, Leon pushed the other man away and swung at him in a last ditch attempt to win against this unbeatable monster. Instead, he found himself disarmed as the black sword clashed against his with so much strength that Leon simply could not hold on. The force of the other's blow sent him stumbling backwards, and he fell to the ground painfully.

"I guess not," his opponent laughed at him. " A shame. Oh well. Good-bye." He lifted the sword above his head.

"Squall!" Sora screamed. He began running towards Leon in desperation.

"No, Sora!" Leon yelled. "Stay back!"

The sword paused in its downward arc. The silver-haired stranger blinked, his eyes glazing over. But then he shook his head violently and raised the sword a second time.

"Squall!" Sora fell in front of Leon and threw his arms about his neck.

"No, Sora, get away!"

Not listening, Sora turned and threw his arms out to either side, shielding Leon with his body. "Don't, please! Don't hurt my brother," he pleaded.

The stranger stared at him, frozen. His face had blanked out in shock. Slowly, his lips began to move, and he whispered, "… So … ra … ?" The sword tumbled out of his slackened grip to the ground.

Sora's arms came down. He stared up at the silver-haired man in front of him. "… Riku?"

"What?" Leon cried in shock, but when he looked up at the young man again, he saw it. The shape of that face, the angle of the nose and the curve of the eyes. They matched the picture of Sora's childhood friend who had disappeared without a trace almost thirteen years ago.

"Riku!" Sora cried. Kairi ran forward and cried out as well when she saw the other's face.

"So … ra …" Riku stammered. He took a shaky step backwards. "Kai … ri …" His body began to tremble and jerk, and his eyes grew wide and frightened.

"Don't touch him!" Cloud cried as Sora rose to his feet and took a step forward. "But keep talking to him. Sora, Kairi! Talk to him! Keep him here with us!"

Sora looked over his shoulder to give Cloud a nod, and Leon was shocked to see tears in his little brother's eyes. "Riku," he began, turning back to the shaking young man, "I'm so glad to see you. I can't believe you're actually here. I knew I'd see you again, though. I always believed I would. Everyone else told us to give up, told us you were dead, but Kairi and I never stopped believing that we'd see you again. We never gave up for a second, did we Kairi?"

"No, we didn't." She walked up beside him and took his arm. They both smiled at Riku through their tears. "Not for one second."

Riku was now positively quaking, and his breath came in jerky gasps that squeaked when he inhaled. As he watched the suffering young man, Leon couldn't help but think of a sci-fi movie robot seconds before it malfunctioned and/or exploded. Considering the amount of machines Riku undoubtedly had in his system, Leon could only pray that the comparison proved to be wrong.

"So … ra …" Riku said one last time. And then he threw back his head and screamed. Green light erupted from his skin and encased him in a minor whirlwind that tossed his long hair above his head and sent his cries spiraling up to the skies.

"Yes!" Cloud cried to everyone's surprise. He pushed past them, PHS in hand, and stood as close as the green tornado would allow. His eyes stayed glued to the screen in his hands while he murmured, "Come on, kid. You can do it. Come on."

Leon finally got to his feet like everyone else. He rushed over to Cloud and demanded, "What's going on? Cloud, what's happening to him?"

"He's rejecting the program!" Cloud announced excitedly. "He's purging it from his system! I knew it. I knew if any of them were going to be able to do it, he would."

Leon took a look at the PHS, but as usual the images on the screen made no sense to him, so he shifted his eyes to Riku. The young man's eyes stared at the sky, the green light flaring wildly inside them as he fought the nanomachines. His mouth hung open as he continued to scream endlessly, far longer than a single breath would allow. The wings behind him whipped back and forth from the force of the winds, and Leon could have sworn he saw their edges begin to blur and fade.

"That's it," Cloud encouraged him. "Keep going. Come on, Riku. No, no, no, don't let up! You're almost done. Just a bit more. Come on, come on …"

Everyone but Cloud cried out in surprise when the six white wings behind Riku exploded. As they did, the green tornado burst, sending furious winds whipping all through the backyard, white feathers traveling along on their backs. Leon threw his arms over his face to keep from being blinded by the assault. When the winds died down and he judged it safe again, he lowered his arms to find Cloud kneeling on the ground with Riku's head in his lap. The young man now had two normal, black Skywalker wings lying limply behind him.

Sora and Kairi, taking Cloud's example to mean they could now touch Riku, ran to him and each took one of the young man's hands. At a slower pace, Leon knelt down next to Cloud who was still watching Riku's progress on his PHS. "Is he okay?" he asked.

Cloud didn't answer. His brow had pulled down worriedly, and his eyes stayed fixed on the information on the screen. Leon's anxiety grew as he watched his lover, and when Cloud began murmuring, "No, no, no …" under his breath, Leon felt his heart clench in fear. Suddenly, Cloud yelled, "Shit!" and began pushing buttons like mad. "Sora! Kairi!" he ordered. "Get back! Leon, hold him down!"

Leon didn't see why he needed to hold down an unconscious man, but he did as Cloud demanded without question. Sora scooted away for him, and Leon took his place, grabbing firmly onto both of Riku's arms. As Leon watched in horrified fascination, Cloud flipped open the top of his PHS, revealing a syringe-like attachment, and without hesitation, plunged the tip into Riku's upper arm. One button press later, and Leon was nearly thrown off by the violent spasms that shook the younger man. Riku gasped loudly and his eyes shot open. Although they were still green, the pupils had returned to a normal rounded shape.

Riku stared at Leon for a heartbeat; then his hands were gripping Leon's arms so hard he had to concentrate on his breathing to keep from crying out. "Cloud!" Riku demanded. "Where's Cloud?"

"I'm right here," Cloud replied kindly, leaning a bit forward so Riku could see his face.

Riku released Leon and stared up at Cloud, upside down, for several long moments. His eyes filled with tears. "Cloud …" he tried. "I … I …"

"It's okay, Riku," Cloud interrupted softly. "I always knew that you, at least, didn't want to."

At that, Riku broke down. He threw his hands over his face and sobbed. "Oh my god, oh my _god_ ," he wailed. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry!"

Cloud carefully pulled the other young man up a bit so that he could hold him as he cried. As soon as Cloud had wrapped him in his arms, Riku grabbed onto his shirt like it was the only thing keeping him alive and cried even harder. Leon could only sit by in confusion as Riku begged for forgiveness for unknown sins and Cloud gave it willingly.

Once Riku had calmed down enough to speak, he whispered, "Cloud, kill me. I deserve it after all I've done to you."

A punch of nausea hit Leon full-force in the stomach. His mind went back to the night that Cloud had shared his horrible history. He had not gone into details, but he had mentioned that occasionally Sephiroth would invite his "brothers" to join in on Cloud's torture and abuse. The memory of Riku's face while still brainwashed and the expression the young man now wore confirmed it.

"Please," Riku continued in an empty voice. "I don't want to live anymore, and if anyone is going to do it, it should be you."

But Cloud just smiled and ran his hand along the top of Riku's head. "Don't say that. Everything's all right now. You're free."

"I don't want to be free," Riku replied, tears streaming down his face again. "I want to die."

"I know," Cloud said. He pulled the young man closer to him and rested his cheek against his head. "I know you do. But, believe it or not, it's possible for broken-down souls like you and me to find happiness once we've been given the freedom to look for it."

"Happiness," Riku echoed. "I don't deserve happiness."

"Funny," Cloud replied immediately, "that's just what I thought. But I got it anyway." He shifted his gaze to Leon and smiled. The love in that smile made Leon feel as if his chest were contracting and expanding at the same time. He reached out to Cloud and touched the hand that rested on Riku's shoulder; Cloud turned it so that Leon's fingers could slip beneath it and then closed his own fingers against them.

"Leon?"

He looked up to find Kairi standing over him, her expression serious but not upset. Sora stood a few paces behind her, equally subdued.

"That story you told about Cloud being from another dimension …" She fixed her pretty blue eyes on his with a kind of resigned strength. "That wasn't just a story, was it?"

"No," Leon answered. "It wasn't."

She took a breath, shutting her eyes briefly, and then looked at the both of them. "Let's go inside then," she suggested. "Riku needs rest, and the four of us need to talk."

Leon nodded and got to his feet. He helped Cloud stand with Riku still in his arms, and the five of them left the backyard together and returned to the house.


	11. I'll Fight, Too

Women, Leon decided, were amazing. If he had been the one to learn that a treasured childhood friend who had been missing for over half his life had in fact been kidnapped by a maniac from another dimension, brainwashed, and forced to participate in his sick sexual habits -- if it had been Leon, he probably would have reacted by sitting in one place, stunned, unable to do anything but stare. Sort of like what Sora was doing now. Kairi, however, had tapped into some ancient female instinct and had taken control of the situation. She ushered Cloud to the couch and produced a blanket for Riku. After being assured that Cloud would continue to monitor Riku's recovery with the PHS, she sat the shell-shocked Sora into a chair and motioned for Leon to do the same. Then, she disappeared for a moment, returning with a glass of water. When she set it down next to Leon with a soft explanation of "I'm guessing you'll be talking for a while," Leon very nearly demanded that Sora marry her right that second.

"So," she said, sitting on the armrest of Sora's chair and putting her arm around him, "Cloud is a dimension-hopping alien who fell into your hydrangeas?"

"That's right," Leon answered. He inhaled slowly, let it out, and began to talk. He told the story just as it had happened to him, revealing details as he himself had found out about them. From his place on the couch, Cloud watched him with a gentle smile on his face. He spoke only when Leon needed help with explaining the technology. Leon left out the evolution of their romance, choosing to attribute his decision to stay by Cloud to their strong friendship. He also left out the details of Sephiroth's relationship to Cloud, choosing to leave it at simple abuse, although from Riku's previous actions, he expected the other two could fill in the blanks on their own.

When he had finished with everything he could think of to say, Sora asked, "How does Riku fit into all of this?"

"Sephiroth kidnapped me," Riku replied, his head on Cloud's lap. "I apparently matched up with the criteria he had to be one of his brothers."

Cloud explained further, "Soon after he became a Skywalker, Sephiroth became friends with Xemnas, the current leader of Organization XIII which is as close to a governing body as Skywalkers get. Most of the members are either scientists or warriors. Almost all of the programs we have came from the scientists of the Organization. Xemnas was fascinated by the fact that Seph had become a Skywalker on his own without programming, so they decided to research it. That led to the birth of the brothers. They searched for young men who would be compatible with the new program and found four. Riku was one of them."

He looked down at the young man in his lap and began to run his fingers through the long, silver hair. "It's a terrible program," he said quietly. "It completely takes over both the mind and body. But there were gaps. Weaknesses. I could see them. I could see _you_ , Riku, every time I looked at you. Zack and I both could. We saw the real you trapped back behind those cruel eyes, and we wondered if there was anything we could do to save you. But without knowing who you were or where you had come from, we couldn't think of anything."

In response, Riku only shut his eyes and nodded, curling his fingers into the fabric of Cloud's pants.

"Now that we know how to break the program," Leon asked, "do you think we can save the other three?"

Cloud shook his head sadly. "I doubt it. We'd have to know exactly where they used to live and find someone who remembered and cared about them. As far as I'm concerned, this was a miracle, and I don't expect it to happen again."

"Besides," Riku added dully, "Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj don't want to be saved. They enjoy themselves too much."

"That's also true," Cloud agreed. He lifted his head and looked over at Sora and Kairi. "Did you two have any other questions?"

"Just one," Sora answered seriously. "Are you capable of recreating the programs Zack put into Squall?"

"Yes."

"Good. I want them."

"No, Sora!" Leon replied immediately. "I don't want you involved in this."

"It's too late," his brother declared with a fire that surprised him. "If it were just Cloud involved, I might let you talk me out of it, but I'm not letting that bastard take Riku back. I'm fighting, too, whether you give me the programs or not, so you might as well give them to me." His brows pulled down, eliminating the child-like appearance he always had. "No one fucks with my friends."

Leon's jaw fell. "Are you _sure_ you're my brother?" he asked.

"Sora," Cloud interrupted, "I really don't think it's necessary for you to have the programs. I'm hiding more than anything, and Riku can just join me. I'd like to avoid a fight if possible."

Sora's bright blue eyes leveled a steady gaze on Cloud as he responded, "But it's not possible anymore, is it? Because Riku left one of these print things when he came here, didn't he?"

Cloud's eyes widened with the sudden realization, and he looked down at the young man in his lap fearfully. Slowly, Riku pushed himself up and sat properly on the couch, the blanket falling off of his shoulders onto his legs.

"I did," he said sadly. "I had no reason to try to mask it. But that doesn't mean I have to put the rest of you in danger. I'll just go back."

"Riku," Cloud breathed, "you can't go back." Carefully, he reached out and took hold of one of Riku's wings which the young man had not bothered to retract. He pulled the black-feathered wing forward so that Riku could see it. Green eyes widened and then shut tightly in pain; he slumped forward and dropped his head into his hands.

"Cloud, I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You have no idea how happy I am that you're all right now."

"But when I don't report in, they'll come looking for me, and they'll follow my print straight to that house.  I just talked to that woman; honestly, that's all I did.  But if Kadaj gets a hold of her ..."

"So that settles it," Sora announced before anyone else could. "We go back to Squall's house, and when this Sephiroth guy shows up, we kick his ass."

"He'll probably bring the other three with him," Cloud commented.

"Fine with me. We'll pound them all at once and get it over with."

"That is _not_ my brother over there."

Riku's shoulders began to shake, and at first Leon thought he was crying again. But when Riku's hands came down and his head lifted, the sounds of laughter spread through the room. Tears still escaped from the young man's eyes, but his lips smiled with a bright happiness that lit up his whole face.

"All right, Sora," he said. "You want the inserts? I'll give them to you."

"Okay!" Sora replied joyfully, his usual expression once again on his face.

Kairi, who had spent the entire time in silence, chose this moment to join in. "I want them, too," she announced.

"No," all the males answered simultaneously.

The unanimous response surprised her for a moment, but she soon recovered and frowned dangerously. With her hands planted on her hips, she demanded, "And why not? I want to help Riku just as much as you, Sora."

"Yeah, but …" He looked up at her worriedly. "You could get hurt, Kairi."

"And you couldn't?" she countered. "You're all ready to kick ass and take names, but everyone here knows it won't be that easy. If Sephiroth brings his brothers, it'll be four against four. Do you really think you can take on one each? Especially considering that Cloud and Leon got their butts handed to them when Riku activated this brother program thing. No offense, guys."

"None taken," Cloud answered for the both of them. Leon nodded his agreement.

"So let me fight," she finished, "and you'll at least have one more person to help out."

"Sorry, Kairi," Cloud responded. "But the answer is still no."

" _Why?_ "

"Because you're a woman," Riku answered.

Leon cringed. Kairi's face had darkened dramatically. He was very glad that gaze of death wasn't being directed at him. With narrowed eyes and tightly-set lips, she hissed, "I had no idea you were _sexist_ , Riku."

"It's not sexist," Cloud said, coming to Riku's defense. "The programs don't react well to female hormones and physiology. They were made specifically for the male body, and when women get them, they tend to … well … change."

Riku snorted. "That's a pleasant way to put it," he commented darkly.

"So there are no female Skywalkers?" Sora asked.

"There are a few, but they're all … kind of …"

"Sadistic?" Riku suggested, his lips curling in a scowl. "Blood-thirsty? Stark, raving bonkers?"

Cloud smiled sadly. "All those and worse," he agreed. Lifting his eyes to Kairi, he finished, "So, no, Kairi, neither Riku nor I will give you the inserts. I'm sorry to disappoint you, but that's how it is."

As she flopped back against the back of the chair, annoyed, Leon decided to speak up. Something had been bothering him since the moment Riku had agreed to enhance Sora.

"Question: even if you give Sora the programs, what's he going to fight with?"

Cloud and Riku both froze. They clearly had not thought of that particular detail. Slowly, they turned to each other and their eyes met.

"Can't I just fight with my hands?" Sora asked.

Leon scoffed at him. "You're going to go against a blade that's bigger than you are with just your hands?"

"How about that old cavalry sword in the attic?"

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!"

"I'll do it," Riku interrupted in a soft, powerful voice. "I'll go back and get one."

"How?" Cloud asked him. "You can't go to the armory. Someone will see you."

Riku lowered his eyes for a moment, thinking. When he spoke again, his voice held a note of hope in it. "Roxas," he whispered. "I'll get one from Roxas."

"Roxas hates you!"

"No he doesn't." He lifted his head; the smile that had vanished had reappeared. "We fought a lot at first, yes, but I think he must have seen what you and Zack did because lately he's been almost nice to me. I mean, as nice as Roxas gets."

"Which for Roxas means just barely civil."

"Yeah, but right before I left, he told me that I could always come ask him for help if I needed it. I laughed at him and said I'd never come to him even if I did need help, but he just kind of half-smiled and walked off. I think he realized that the program hadn't taken me completely, and he was trying to tell the part of me that fought it that I had his support."

"All right." Cloud laid a hand on Riku's shoulder and looked sternly into his eyes. "But you have to be careful. Get the weapon and get out. I don't want you hanging around Organization headquarters any longer than necessary."

"Who is Roxas?" Sora asked, breaking apart their conversation.

"A member of Organization XIII," Riku explained. "The youngest and the only one who's ever openly denounced the brother program. It's funny, because of the program, I hated him, but I still hung out with him as much as I could. I think he reminded me of you, Sora." He smiled a little at his best friend.

"If he's denounced the program," Leon asked, "do you think he'd join us in fighting Sephiroth?"

"No," Cloud replied immediately. "As a member of the Organization, he has to follow Xemnas's orders or risk punishment. But he's a perfect choice if we need to get a weapon in secret. He collects them."

Riku inhaled sharply as a thought hit him. "I can ask Roxas to pass a message to Reno through Axel." He looked over to Cloud and explained, "Kairi's right. We really need more than the four of us if we're going to have a chance. I mean, Leon and Sora are just amateurs, and you and I aren't in our best shape right now.  We're going to need someone else.  Maybe if I can get a message to Zack and Reno, they'll be able to help."

"That's a good idea," Cloud told him. But when Riku tried to struggle to his feet, he frowned and grabbed the young man by the arm. "Where do you think you're going?"

Riku's eyes narrowed as he looked at the blond. "To get Sora a sword and to get help. Where did you think?"

"You're not going like this," Cloud informed him, and he shoved the PHS into Riku's line of sight.

Riku blinked at it for a minute before arguing, "I can make it."

"I don't think so, and I'm not about to let you go off and die of heart failure now that you've finally found your friends." He turned to Sora and Kairi and appealed to them. "Tell him to rest, will you?"

"Come on, Riku," Kairi immediately said. "You need to make sure you're fully recovered before you go away again."

"Yeah, what she said," Sora piped up. "Besides, we haven't seen you in so long. Don't go running off before we've had a chance to talk."

Riku hung his head briefly. When he lifted it, he fixed emotion-filled eyes on his two friends. "Sora, Kairi," he began, but that was as far as he got. Suddenly, his eyes rolled up into his head and he collapsed into Cloud's waiting arms.

"Cloud!" Kairi protested as they all noticed the syringe sticking out of the PHS again. "What do you keep injecting him with?"

"That one was just a sedative," Cloud assured her. He flicked the PHS closed while still holding Riku and then settled the unconscious man on the couch. "Thanks for distracting him."

"Hmph." She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. "I can't believe you. Honestly."

"Come on, Kairi," Sora smiled at her. "You remember how Riku used to be. He was always pushing himself too hard. Knocking him out is probably the best option right now." Kairi humphed again, but without as much malice. He placed a hand on her arm and moved it back and forth gently, an action which ranked him as one of the bravest men alive in Leon's eyes. Kairi was clearly still upset that she had to stay on the sidelines and play cheerleader.

"Cloud," she asked, her eyes fixed on Riku's still form, "how long until he's well enough to go back?"

Cloud thought for a moment and consulted his PHS a few times before answering, "Two days. And that's _if_ we can get him to be a good boy and stay in bed. Preferably without more sedatives."

"No problem," Sora replied with a grin. "I'll sit on him if I have to."

"Sora, dear, I think that might hinder the recovery process."

"Maybe, but at least he'll stay in bed."

"I suppose," Kairi rolled her eyes a little at him. After a calming breath, she commented, "That just leaves the question of where to put him. I can't in good conscience give him the couch."

"I'll take the couch," Leon offered immediately. "He can sleep with Cloud in the guest room."

At his words, Cloud's head shot up; blue eyes looked at him with a hint of worry. Leon sent a small smile his way to ease those fears as best as he could without words. _Yes_ , he wanted to say, _I still love you and want to be with you. But this is more important right now than our simple wants._ After a moment, Cloud smiled back, apparently understanding Leon's thoughts.

Sora, however, would hear none of it. "Not a chance," he argued. "If anyone is going to be displaced, it's going to be me and Kairi. She can go back to her dorm, I'll take the couch, and Riku can have the whole bed to himself."

"Sora," Cloud tried to reason with him, "it's really much easier to do it Leon's way. Then I can be near Riku in case anything happens."

Sora answered him with a furious pout. "I don't care. Kairi and I have been together for over seven years. You two have had two weeks at most. You're damn cute together, and I'm not about to split you up when there's another perfectly viable option."

"I agree," Kairi stepped in. "Your relationship is young. You should enjoy it as much as possible. Although really, I'm impressed by how comfortable you are already and how much trust you have. Either that or Leon is really good at hiding jealousy."

"Seriously," Sora grinned. "If it were Kairi with her hands all over Riku, mothering him like that, I think I'd be a little jealous, and the only reason she doesn't have a ring yet is because I'm broke."

"And I haven't said yes."

"I haven't asked. But you'll say yes."

"I dunno. Riku's awfully handsome. I might dump you for him. Or try to steal Cloud away from Leon."

"Straight back atcha, sister. You can have Riku if you want. I'll take Cloud. He's totally sex on legs."

Kairi giggled, putting an end to the mock-fighting, and leaned down to kiss Sora sweetly. "You'll ask," she whispered before kissing him again.

"Yeah," he replied against her lips. "And you'll say yes."

"Of course I will." Her hand slid along his cheek and guided him into a deep kiss that kept them occupied for a while.

Leon and Cloud just stared at them. The blond had flushed at being called "damn cute" and then turned bright red at Sora's further comment. Leon's face had begun to burn as well with the talk of being jealous of Riku. Truthfully, the thought had never crossed his mind. He trusted Cloud that much. He had even thought it sweet to see his lover acting so compassionately.

After a minute, Sora and Kairi pulled away from each other and noticed their stunned expressions. Sora began to laugh. "What?" he asked. "Did you really think I'm that oblivious? Well, okay, maybe I am, but Kairi isn't!" She batted her eyelashes at that, and Sora laughed even harder.

Leon forcibly shut his mouth and swallowed a few times before asking, "You're not going to make fun of me?"

"Nah," his brother replied happily. "I like Cloud. He's good for you." His smile softened a bit, and he met Leon's eyes seriously. "She would have liked him, too, you know."

Leon let his eyes slip sideways to catch the gaze of the man he loved. Cloud looked back at him, still slightly embarrassed and a bit anxious at the particular turn of the conversation. He had never said so, but he had probably worried about that very thing: how he compared to Leon's first love, whether she would have approved of him and left Leon in his care.

Smiling, Leon stood from his chair and crossed the short distance to Cloud's side. The blond looked at him with mild confusion, but when Leon reached out and drew him close, the lines in Cloud's face melted away. He allowed Leon to pull his head to his shoulder and responded to the arms about his waist by placing his own around Leon's upper arms.

"She wouldn't have just liked him," Leon replied to his brother's comment. "She would have loved him. Maybe even as much as I do."

And ignoring Kairi's little squeals of happiness and Sora's light chuckles, Leon lifted Cloud's head by the chin and kissed him.


	12. Reaching for Heaven

Exhausted, Leon flopped down backwards onto the bed. His muscles creaked in protest, and his throat added a deep groan to the symphony of pain that his body was performing. Chuckling softly, Cloud stretched out beside him with his head propped in one hand.

"Tired?" he asked.

"Well, let's see," Leon replied with heavy sarcasm. "Today Kairi made us rake leaves, trim hedges, and dispose of sticks for two hours. Then we had to fight a deranged Riku. Then, after dealing with the stress of explaining the situation to my brother and almost-sister-in-law _and_ finding out that they already knew I'm madly in love with you, I had to make dinner for five, including two Skywalkers with appetites like black holes --"

"Sorry about that, but we do tend to get hungry."

"-- after which, I had to clean up without any help."

"I wanted to help, but Sora kept yelling things about sex in the kitchen being forbidden, so I decided I should just stay out of it while you were in there."

"So, yes," Leon concluded, "I am in fact tired. Thank you, Cloud dear, for asking."

A blond eyebrow shot skywards. "Cloud … _dear?_ "

"You prefer sweetheart?"

"No."

"How about Mr. Sex-on-Legs Strife?"

Leon quickly turned his eyes to Cloud's face and was rewarded by a blush the size of a supernova. "Dear will do," he mumbled in resignation. Leon laughed, but soon stopped as it made his sides hurt even more.

They lay in companionable silence for a few minutes, but a sixth sense soon began to prod at Leon's mind. He opened the eyes he had previously closed to find Cloud looking at him carefully and gnawing on his bottom lip.

"What?"

"What what?"

Leon sighed and offered a small smile. "What's worrying you? You're thinking about something. I can tell."

"Oh, well, I …" He hesitated, noticeably uncomfortable; his blue eyes flittered about, landing everywhere but on Leon's face. "I kind of had … something … I wanted to … talk … to you … about."

Ignoring the pain it caused him, Leon rolled up onto his side so that he could face Cloud at eye-level. With his head propped in his hand, he fixed his eyes on the blond's worried face and said, "Talk. I'll listen."

"Well," he began slowly, "all night Sora's been going on about kicking Sephiroth to the end of the world and back. And while I appreciate his enthusiasm and his willingness to help me and Riku, it kind of bothered me. Because it was all phrased as a form of when. _When_ we beat Sephiroth, _when_ you and I can live together without fear, _when_ Riku can ease his way back into his old life."

"Sora's like that," Leon commented. "He doesn't believe in failure."

Cloud smiled sadly. "Yeah, I picked that up. And while his confidence is comforting, I can't keep myself from thinking now and again about … well … the exact opposite." Leon reached out his free hand and covered Cloud's, soothing the skin there with his thumb as Cloud continued, "And when I started thinking about that, I started thinking that I'd like to do something before the battle even starts. You know, to have the memory of it. Just in case."

Leon nodded. That made sense. "What is it you want to do?" he asked, although if he had thought a bit more, he would have seen the answer to his question in the light flush that spread across the blond's nose.

Cloud swallowed and, with his eyes glued to Leon's, forced it out. "I'd like for you to take me."

Leon very nearly asked the stupid question of "Take you where?" but his brain kicked in just in time. At the same moment, an electric shock sped up his heart and a flash of fire surged through his lower half. His eyes widened dramatically, and the hand that was on Cloud's froze.

"Take you?"

"Yes."

"As in … ?" He couldn't bring himself to say anything else. Every word he could think of was too clinical or too crass.

"Yes," Cloud answered anyway, knowing from the look on Leon's face what went unsaid. He was chewing his lip again, this time in worry. Absently, Leon lifted his hand and pulled the abused flesh out from between the blond's teeth.

"Are you sure you're ready?" he asked as his thumb brushed over the purpling skin on Cloud's lip. "I mean, you've been …"

"I know," Cloud interrupted, pausing to kiss Leon's fingers before they fell away. "But I'll be fine. I love you and I trust you. I shouldn't have any problems."

An idea occurred to Leon, and even though his mind shrank back from it, his lips moved anyway. "Just to be sure, do you think that maybe for the first time, you should take me?"

Cloud's eyes grew impossibly wide. "Are you serious?" he demanded, but as his eyes flew over Leon's face, he relaxed and smiled. "No, you're not."

"I … I am."

"No," the blond replied, and he chuckled lightly. "Your face is showing just how downright terrified you are of that idea. But I appreciate your willingness to do something like that just to put me at ease." His hand lifted to Leon's face and began to play with the hair behind his ear. "I prefer to be on the bottom," he confided with a light blush. "Some guys like that feeling of being enveloped, but I prefer the feeling of being filled. It's well worth the soreness afterwards."

Leon's face was burning, and he could feel himself getting very hard very fast. He dipped his head a bit and muttered, "Isn't this the kind of conversation you're supposed to have with your lover after several months of trial and error?"

Cloud's gentle laugh washed over him. "We don't have that kind of time, Leon."

"No, I guess we don't." He took in a long, steeling breath and then lifted his head to look directly into Cloud's eyes. "When do you want to do it?" he asked flatly as if scheduling an appointment for a haircut.

His lover smirked at him a little. "Whenever you want to," he replied, clearly amused. "Tonight, tomorrow, whenever."

"Tonight, then," Leon said, trying not to sound like he just wanted to get the thing over with.

"Don't sound so excited," Cloud scolded him. Slowly, his hand began to move down the length of the bed.

"I'm sorry," Leon apologized. "I'm just nervous, you know. I've never done this with a man before."

"It's the same as with a woman," the blond assured him. He leaned forward a bit, his eyes beginning to gleam slightly with a hint of green. "Just put the stick in the hole," he whispered. "The only difference is that the hole is _tighter_."

The sensual tone of his lover's voice made Leon shudder. "Cloud, I …" But then Cloud's wandering hand closed over his half-erection, and the rest of Leon's sentence turned into a shaky gasp. His vision began to blur as his lover's fingers slid and squeezed. Suddenly, he could see nothing but Cloud's lips hanging tantalizingly in front of him, and with a low growl of possessiveness and passion, he leapt on them, pushing the blond backwards onto the bed.

They made out for several minutes, kissing each other's lips, sucking lightly on each other's necks, and, in Cloud's case, running his tongue along the ridges of Leon's ear, occasionally dipping the tip inside and driving him utterly insane. But when Leon had moved to suck on Cloud's nipples, feeling the blond's warm erection pulse against his stomach as he lay on it, he decided it was time for the damn shirt to come off, and that thought sparked several more that effectively snuffed the fire raging within him.

"What's the matter?" Cloud panted as Leon sat up.

"Shirt," Leon replied gruffly. He simply could not meet those beautiful blue-green eyes. "Off."

Cloud sighed, and Leon could see the green fading. Once started, the blond didn't like to talk. He claimed that words distracted him and only served to decrease his arousal. Leon hated to force him into a conversation now, but he had become far too uncomfortable once again.

"Don't you want to take it off yourself?"

Leon shook his head. "No, you do it. The rest, too. I …" He stood up from the bed and ran a hand back through his hair. It was taking everything he had not to pace. "I need to go find some … lubricant … or something. Right?"

His blond lover had rolled up on his side and was smiling at him again, amused by his nervousness. "It usually helps. There's always saliva if you don't have anything else."

"No, I … I'll go look." However, in spite of his words, his feet would not move forward. "Don't know what to look for," he mumbled to himself. "Girls make their own lubricant."

"This is true," Cloud replied as if Leon had just said something incredibly important.

"While I'm out, should I get a condom?"

The other man shrugged. "Only if you want to contain some of the mess. I promise I'm disease-free, and it's not like I can get pregnant."

Leon winced at how baldly they were talking back and forth about their upcoming sexual encounter. Wasn't there supposed to be some spontaneity in the whole thing? Weren't they supposed to be swept away by a tidal wave of passion? Weren't they supposed to lose control of themselves and only realize what they had done after they had done it?

Well, if it wasn't like that, it was undoubtedly Leon's fault. Maybe he could still fix it. If only he would just stop freaking out about the whole thing.

"Leon?" Cloud's voice brought him back to the bedroom. "You still with me?"

"Yeah." He shook his head a few times to clear his thoughts. "Sorry. I'll be back." After a brief apologetic glance to his lover, Leon walked to the door, intending to search the bathroom. As he opened the door, he looked back and added, "I expect those clothes to be off by the time I get back."

"Yes, sir," Cloud returned with a crisp salute. It was meant to be a joke, but it only served to further remind Leon of the blond's unhappy past. At the age when Leon had been stressing over term papers and dealing with normal teenage angst, Cloud had been a soldier, killing rampaging beasts and people deemed "the enemy" by a cold corporation. It made Leon want to run right over there, gather up Cloud in his arms, and tell him again and again just how strong his lover was and how much he admired him. Instead, Leon finished opening the door and headed for the bathroom.

After rummaging around for a while, Leon found something that seemed all right: a body oil that he assumed belonged to Kairi. However, instead of returning immediately to Cloud, he took a moment to stare at himself in the mirror. Putting aside the bottle, he planted both hands against the counter and gave himself a fierce glare.

"Okay, Squall Leonhart or Leon Heartilly or whatever the fuck your name is. The man you adore is waiting for you in that bedroom, so you're going to get this idiotic anxiety out of your system right now. You will _not_ think that what you're about to do is gross, because let's face it, when Dad gave you 'the talk' about girls you thought that was gross, too." His concentration slipped slightly at the memory of that graphic conversation. "Of course, that could have just been Dad. When he gave Sora that talk, the poor kid fainted." A quick shake of the head and he stared into his own eyes again. "The point is that you will _not_ think about the particulars; you will just go with it. He turns you on so bad; just go with that.

"Next, you will _not_ worry about the fact that the last man who did this to Cloud was a maniac and that it was done without Cloud's consent. And why is that? Because Cloud _asked you_ to do this. He wants you, so knock off the guilt. And stop worrying about hurting him. That's what the damn oil is for. If you end up hurting him anyway, he'll either work through it or tell you to stop. He's not some damn child, so stop being his fucking mother. Got that? Good."

Leon took a moment for a slow breath before finishing, "You will not think about how much your body hurts because the endorphins will be kicking in momentarily. You will not think about how you haven't done this in five years because nothing you learned about Rinoa applies here. And you won't think about _that_ either, because it wouldn't have applied even if Cloud were a woman; everyone is different. If you _must_ think, think about how much you love Cloud and the fact that he loves you back. Although really, considering how much of a virgin you're acting right now, I can't imagine why he does."

And, having given himself a thorough verbal beat down, Leon picked up the bottle, gave himself one last firm stare, and left the bathroom.

When he opened the door to the guest bedroom, however, he realized that everything he had just chastised himself for no longer mattered. Cloud had done as ordered, and as Leon entered, he was turning down the bed covers for them. What Leon hadn't ordered, but what Cloud knew would help, was the wing that stretched out behind him. The blond stood with his back to the door, so Leon had a perfect view of Cloud's broad back, littered with ancient scars and one new one underneath his right shoulderblade, and of his softly curving backside, the skin there paler and smoother than on the rest of his muscled body. If one ignored the signs of battle and abuse, Cloud looked as if he had just stepped out of a Renaissance painting. And that beautiful wing just made him that much sexier in Leon's eyes. His nervous jitters melted away.

Then, Cloud looked over his shoulder at him, and Leon very nearly dropped the bottle.

"All set?" the blond asked with a small smile.

Leon swallowed; suddenly his mouth was very dry. "Yeah."

"Good. Then come here."

He did as ordered, keeping his eyes locked on Cloud's as he closed the distance between them. Little flecks of green had begun to swim in them again. Cloud turned around and reached out for Leon when he had come close enough, and his fingers began working on the buttons of Leon's shirt even as his eyes refused to break their staring contest. Once Leon's chest and back were bare, the blond curled his wing around Leon's body, letting the feathers caress his skin in place of a hand. A small smirk turned up the corner of Cloud's mouth as Leon shuddered at the touch.

Only a few heartbeats later, Leon stood naked in his guest bedroom, Cloud's warm body in front of him and the soft wing behind him. Even though he loved that wing, the lips of the man in front of him were at that moment more inviting. He leaned forward to take them, and they opened to him at his touch. Their tongues met halfway, stroking against each other gently. Leon savored the sweetness for a moment, but then he tried to fire up the kiss. Cloud, however, backed away, placing a finger over Leon's lips.

"Not too much," he explained, smiling so as to ease the confusion in Leon's face. "You're going to want me to be coherent the first time so I can help you, right?"

"I … guess." Leon felt his face flushing. That anxiety he had tried so hard to banish was coming back for a second round.

Cloud seemed to sense it, for he slipped his arms around Leon's neck and pulled their bodies flush against each other. He whispered into Leon's ear, "Of course, just because I have to be coherent doesn't mean you have to be." His tongue slid out and traced a slow line from the bottom of Leon's ear to the top and then back again, finishing by taking the lobe between his teeth and sucking gently.

Leon's knees shook and he grabbed onto Cloud's hips as the pleasure took him. Cloud's touch was intoxicating, his voice hypnotizing, and his body utterly enthralling. Leon moaned in appreciation, and his hands slid from the blond's hips to cup him from behind, pulling them even closer together. Cloud had grown tired of devouring Leon's ear and had moved to his neck; when Leon increased the pressure of their bodies, he hummed seductively into the skin directly above Leon's collarbone just before taking it between his teeth and teasing it with his tongue.

"Oh god …" Leon breathed as the action caused a new wave of desire to wash over him. "Cloud …"

"Mmm, Leon," Cloud returned in an identical tone.

Cloud was faking. Leon knew he was faking. He knew it and he didn't give a flying fuck. The sound of his name being spoken by his love with that much adoration and need, it sparked something wild in Leon that quickly spread out of control and consumed him. His hands rose to Cloud's upper arms and yanked the blond away from him. Some part of his brain registered shocked blue eyes for a half-second; then he had picked Cloud up bodily, planted him on the bed, and leapt on top of him where he proceeded to attack his lover's neck, effectively turning the tables on him.

"Leon," Cloud protested, his hands pushing in vain against Leon's shoulders. "Wait! I …"

Growling slightly, Leon pulled his face up so that he could look Cloud in the eye when he said, "Fuck coherency. I'll figure it out. Now shut up and let me ravish you." He dipped his head again.

"Oh gods …" was all that Cloud managed to get out before Leon had latched his mouth around a nipple. The blond immediately arched up, lifting the lower half of his chest completely off the bed. Leon quickly slipped his hands underneath and kept his lover elevated while he devoured first one side and then the other. While he worked, one hand gently massaged the sensitive area where back met wing. By the time he finished, Cloud was gasping wildly and digging his fingers into the mattress.

Leon shifted so that he lay next to Cloud and offered his mouth to his half-crazed lover. While Cloud kissed him furiously, Leon ran his hands over the blond's body: over the broad chest and back, across the flat stomach, up and down the muscled thighs. Most of the areas he explored he had committed to memory already, but he wanted to touch them all again. He ended by taking hold of Cloud's backside again and pulling them together. The combined warmth and friction broke Cloud's concentration, and he fell away from the kiss, gasping and moaning softly. Seeing an opportunity, Leon ducked his head and latched onto his lover's neck, pulling up the skin and using his teeth as well as his tongue to torture it. They had both refrained from using teeth before since it would leave marks, but now that his family knew, Leon saw no reason not to brand Cloud as his own. As he worked on the blond's neck, he shifted one hand and slid a finger between his lover's cheeks, not to penetrate but simply to add pressure. The moan he received in response was utterly captivating.

When Cloud was bucking against his front and pushing back against his hand, Leon decided it was time to pick the bottle that he had dropped up off of the floor. He rolled Cloud onto his back, gave him a quick kiss, and slipped off of the bed to look for it, shivering slightly at the lack of body heat. He found it quickly enough and returned to find that his lover had spread his legs and bent his knees in anticipation of what was to come next. Blue-green eyes gazed at him with trust and acceptance. He gazed back, his chest hurting with the overflowing feelings of love and protectiveness.

Eventually, Leon deemed his fingers oily enough, and he proceeded with the part he had been dreading. After all, this was supposed to be painful, and he didn't want Cloud to be in pain ever. But the expression on his lover's face -- a mix of gentle encouragement and raw need -- eased his fears as he pushed one finger inside.

Cloud had not been kidding. It was _tight_. Too tight for his whole finger. Leon's mind worked frantically, spurred on even more by the sight of Cloud's eyebrows drawing together in a mild wince. How could he make this easier? Rinoa had been tight sometimes, but never so much so that he couldn't get at least one finger in. She had, however, often been too tight for his cock, even after loosening, and for that he had developed a way to ease himself in using a gentle rocking motion that pushed just slightly further on each forward movement. Leon immediately began to mimic that motion with his finger, adding a circular movement to help widen the passage as well as deepen it. Eventually, his whole finger was in, and Cloud had shown no more pain than the occasional minor flinch or frown.

As Leon began adding the second finger, his mind wandered. Weren't men supposed to have a G-spot just like women did? Where was it? He knew where his wife's had been, but only because she had seized his fingers, plunged them inside, maneuvered them around, and said, "Feel that? Good. Now touch it and don't stop until I say so." He certainly hadn't wanted to stop, not after watching her orgasm harder than she ever had before. If such a spot existed for men, he wanted to find it. So as his fingers worked to get the second one all the way in, he surreptitiously searched for it.

Several minutes later, he found it. Cloud had long ago stopped feeling discomfort. As Leon worked, he panted with the occasional moan and helped by pushing down against Leon's fingers. But when Leon brushed against a particular spot, Cloud's eyes slammed shut, his body arched, and he moaned deeply. Leon smirked. By the time he had the third finger in, Cloud was desperately gasping for breath, his head thrashing back and forth on the pillow and one hand gripping Leon's arm so tightly he was sure there would be bruises in the morning. Yes, G-spots were wonderful things.

While Leon would have been happy to lie there and drive his lover over the edge with his fingers alone, Cloud soon grabbed onto Leon's arm and yanked at him, telling him without words where he wanted him to be. With a small sigh, Leon complied. He retrieved the bottle and then positioned himself between Cloud's bent legs. He oiled his erection and then oiled Cloud's, more for the excuse to touch him than anything else. After flipping the lid shut and tossing the bottle back onto the floor, he took Cloud's hand and brought it to himself so that the blond could guide him in. Another trick he had learned from loving Rinoa.

Leon hissed as the head entered. Cloud was still impossibly tight. He began the rocking motion again, easing himself inch by inch into the passage that was so different from the warm wetness of a woman. And yet Cloud had been right again. The fiery shocks of passion that were darting through his limbs and surging through his groin were identical to the ones that used to take him when he entered his wife. The feeling of love that was swelling his chest was the same. And even though Cloud's gasps and moans were different from Rinoa's screams, they still made his head fog and spin and his whole body cry out for more.

Before he knew it, he was all the way in and Cloud's ankles had locked at the small of his back. He began to move in earnest, letting the rhythm take them both. Each thrust forced another heavenly gasp from Cloud's mouth, and soon he was gasping as well. Leon loved this part of sex, the feeling of his body melding with his lover's. They moved together as a unit, no awkwardness or missteps. Everything was the rhythm. If he let go of his mind and let the passion take him completely, Leon could swear that, at that moment, his mind could touch that of his lover's and that they truly were, if only for a second, one being.

Too soon Cloud began the stuttered breathing that signified his approaching orgasm, and Leon felt his own control slipping away towards completion. He felt the rise begin, that moment where it seemed that the only word his brain knew was _yes_ , with the possible addition of the word _more_. Using the last bit of coherency he had, he gasped out Cloud's name and then rode the wave higher and higher until it seemed like every muscle in his body was contracting with the force of his release. Underneath him, Cloud did the same, his body shaking as he came at the same time, a feat Leon had only thought possible in the world of fictional romance.

They lay still for several heartbeats afterwards, catching their breath and letting the waves slowly bring them back to earth. Then, Leon moved, trying to ignore the wince on Cloud's face as he pulled out, and stretched out next to his lover so that they lay face-to-face.

"See?" Cloud smiled, his eyes still closed. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

Leon chuckled and reached out to run his thumb along his lover's cheek. The blond really was ineffably beautiful, even without the assistance of afterglow.

"Cloud dear?"

"Yes, Leon _darling?_ "

He smirked slightly at the added pet name. "I'm not sure I got it completely right that time," he said with obvious meaning.

Cloud's gentle smile turned devious, and he cracked open one eye to look at Leon. "You think you need more practice?" he asked.

"I think I do."

"Well there's always tomorrow." The eye closed again.

Leon smiled. "That there is," he replied, leaning over and kissing Cloud softly on the forehead before placing his head on the pillow and shutting his eyes.


	13. And So It Begins

It was always interesting to see people's reactions when they learned that Leon and Sora were related. Exclamations along the lines of "You _can't_ be a Leonhart!" usually accompanied any introduction from one brother of the other. Friends of Sora couldn't understand how he could tolerate being around a cold fish like Leon, and friends of Leon couldn't understand how he hadn't choked the living daylights out of the noisy ball of energy that bore the name Sora. Everyone knew how much Sora cared for his brother since he would tell anyone he happened to meet, but they all assumed the affection was one-way.

However, just because Leon didn't wear his heart on his sleeve didn't mean he didn't love his brother just as much as Sora loved him. In spite of the age difference, each one had always considered the other as one of his closest friends. They just complimented each other perfectly; whatever one lacked, the other had in abundance. Once, his father had commented, "It's as if God took all of Squall's sense of humor and gave it to Sora." His mother had responded, "And all of Sora's self-control to Squall." They had both laughed and continued picking apart their sons' personalities; the boys had simply rolled their eyes at their parents and gone off to beat the snot out of each other in Mortal Kombat.

Throughout the years -- through Riku's disappearance, through Rinoa and her death, through Kairi going from friend to girlfriend to lover -- through everything, they remained close and only grew closer even as they physically moved apart. Yes, they often irritated each other to no end, but Leon knew he would never trade Sora for anything or anyone.

Although the morning after Riku had returned, he thought perhaps he would trade his brother in for something less infuriating. Something like a pair of socks.

"Cloud's got a love bite. Cloud's got a love bite," the brunet sang sweetly to himself as he waited for the coffee to finish.

Leon tightened his already vicious grip on the spatula he held and reminded himself that fratricide was frowned upon in polite society. Thankfully, Cloud, who was sitting at the table and checking on Riku's status, was pretending not to hear Sora. The blond did in fact have a rather impressive hickey, and he hadn't bothered to try to hide it. If Leon didn't know better, he'd have thought that Cloud was proud of the mark and even enjoying Sora's teasing.

"Geez, Sora, are you twenty or are you two?" Kairi demanded, turning around in her chair to glare at him.

"What?" Sora asked, widening his big blue eyes and fluttering his impossibly long lashes. When Kairi humphed at him and turned back to her pancakes, he grinned and starting singing again, albeit this time much more softly.

Across the table from her, Riku leaned forward and motioned for Kairi to come closer. When she did, he whispered in her ear; a grin slowly spread over her face. As Riku leant back, Kairi leapt from her chair and purposefully strode over to her boyfriend. Sora gave her a questioning look but didn't have time to open his mouth before she had grabbed him and attached her mouth to his neck.

"Ow!" he cried, swatting at her ineffectively with a nearby plastic measuring cup. "Kairi! Get off!"

When Kairi finally did pull back, grinning madly, a red and purple bruise had already begun to form on Sora's neck.

"Riku and I thought that, since you were going on and on about Cloud's hickey, you must want one for yourself," she explained.

"Kai- _ri!_ " Sora whined. "We're going to see our profs today!"

"Well, you'd better change clothes then."

"Sora's got a love bite," Riku sang softly as Kairi sat back down. Leon wanted to kiss them both; instead he slipped two extra pancakes onto Riku's plate.

Cloud sighed at the lot of them and set aside his PHS. "You're looking good, Riku," he commented. "In fact, I'd say your progress is astounding. Your body is repairing itself at an amazing rate."

Riku half-smiled and nodded his thanks to Leon who had just placed the plate in front of him. "I'm enhanced, too, you know," he replied to Cloud. "Probably just as much as you are."

Cloud winced. "Ouch. I'm sorry."

The silver-haired man shrugged and reached for the syrup. "It has its advantages, I guess."

"Cloud," Kairi asked quietly, "will Riku ever … well …" She glanced guiltily at her friend before spitting it out. "Will he ever get his old hair and eye color back?"

"No. Not without more modification. This is what his body is like now; purging the program didn't alter his DNA back to what it was."

"His DNA has changed?" Sora cried, nearly dropping the mug he had just filled with coffee.

"Yeah," Riku answered, not at all bothered by the subject. "Only a bit, but enough that if they did a test on me to see if I'm who I say I am, it would come out negative." He cut into a pancake and brought a bite to his mouth. "Wow, these are good, Leon!"

"Thank you," Leon replied. An ache had settled into his chest at the recent revelation. So if Riku went back to his parents, he would have no way to prove his identity? Even his body would betray him? It was yet another sin to add to Sephiroth's ever-growing list of crimes.

"Okay, why is everyone looking at me like I'm dying?" Riku demanded, laying down his fork with a loud clink. His fierce gaze roamed the room, glaring at each of them individually. "I will not be pitied, thank you very much. So my eyes aren't blue anymore. Big deal. I can still fight, and that's the important part."

Resting his head in one hand, Cloud commented with a smile, "And to think, yesterday he wanted to die."

"Well, I've changed my mind," the other snapped with a frown. "Somehow I got a second chance at life, so I'm going to take it. Right after I kick my brother's ass so hard it'll come out the top of his head like a Moogle pom-pom." He picked his fork back up and stabbed viciously at his breakfast. "Fucking Sephiroth and his fucking home-brewed shit."

At Riku's angry mutter, Cloud sucked his breath in and lifted his head from his hand. "He didn't give you one of those, did he?"

Riku snorted. "Course he did. How else could I be so freaking fast?" Green eyes slid sideways and examined the shocked look on the blond's face. "Did you get one?"

Cloud hung his head a little. "Yeah," he admitted, "but I don't know what it does."

"You've never activated it?"

"No. I'm kind of afraid to."

Leon set his own plate down on the table with a little more noise than necessary. As he settled into his chair, he stated, "All right, that's enough inside talk. Time to explain it to the rest of us." He looked pointedly at Cloud who offered him a small smile.

It was Riku, however, who started talking first. "We're talking about the programs that Sephiroth created himself. He had all these ideas, most of which the Organization took and created for him. But some of them they wouldn't touch. So he did them himself and then injected them into us." He chewed thoughtfully for a moment before adding, "I'm sure Loz, Yazoo, and Kadaj have some, too. And Sephiroth himself has a bunch. Mine increases my agility to an insane level." He gave a little smile to Leon. "Which you've already seen."

"Yeah," Leon replied, remembering that wild blade and how he had been completely unable to keep up with it. He looked once more to his lover. "And you don't know what yours does?"

"No."

"Probably better that way."

"That's what I think."

"Cloud?"

Leon jumped slightly at Sora's voice. His brother had been so quiet that he had forgotten he was still there.

"Yes?"

Sora placed his mug of coffee on the table and leaned against the back of Kairi's chair since all the other seats were taken. He asked, "If Riku is getting better faster than you thought, does that mean he's well enough to give me that fighting program thing?"

Cloud shrugged. "I don't see why not."

"Well, I do," Riku commented. He added meaningfully to the blond sitting next to him, "Reflex test."

Leon winced. In his mind, he saw again Zack's huge blade coming straight for his face. The thought of Sora watching death approach like that chilled his heart. "Is that really necessary? Can't you just skip that part?"

Across the table from him, Cloud dropped his gaze, embarrassed. "The adrenaline shot really does help," he mumbled. "I hate to say it, but it's true." Ignoring Leon's pointed look, he lifted his eyes to Sora and said more clearly, "I can do it for you if you like."

The brunet shook his head. "No, I'd rather it be Riku, so if he's not well enough yet, I'll wait." He leaned down and kissed his girlfriend on the cheek to get her attention. "Come on, Kai. We have to get to campus and see what we can do about our upcoming absence." She nodded and rose to her feet, dishes in hand, as he finished off his coffee.

"Sora," Riku called before they could leave the kitchen. "It's the same program, you know. It doesn't matter who gives it to you."

Sora smiled at him over his shoulder. "Sure it does. Those little machines may not care, but I do."

Riku blinked at him, green eyes filling with bewildered understanding. Then, just as a light blush began to spread over his cheeks, he quickly dipped his head down and hid behind his hair, stabbing at his pancakes again. Giving a final smile to the room in general, Sora left, and Kairi followed him. With his eyes on his brother, Leon hadn't realized Cloud had reacted as well until he felt a warm hand on his. Leon turned to find that Cloud's face wore a sad smile which brightened slightly when Leon smiled back. Their fingers interlaced together comfortably and stayed that way all through breakfast, even though Leon had a terrible time figuring out how to eat with his left hand.

The rest of the morning and early afternoon passed quietly. Cloud and Riku seemed to have a good deal of "inside talk" to get through, so Leon left them to it and went off to pack. Once he had filled the trunk of his car with loaded suitcases, he cracked open his computer and used the Sora-free time to do a little work. He had already finished three chapters of his new project. The narrative style was rushed due to the sheer volume of inspiration he had, but he knew he would be able to fix that easily with the first rewrite. For now, he just wanted to get it all out of his head and into a document. The details could be handled later when he had more time -- assuming he would still have time once all this was over.

Sora and Kairi returned a few hours after lunch with piles of reading material and assignments. Their professors had given them the work schedule for the next month and had promised to tape their lectures using the equipment Sora and Kairi had given them. Everyone would communicate back and forth via email, Sora explained, so that he and Kairi could go to Leon's house with the others but still stay enrolled in all their classes. When Leon asked what excuse Sora had given for their open-ended absence, his brother informed him that he, Leon, was deathly ill and could succumb any day.

"And you went along with that?" Leon demanded of Kairi who was trying to hide behind Cloud.

"I couldn't think of anything better," she squeaked. "And once we had told one person, we couldn't really change it."

As Leon quietly fumed and plotted murder once more, Cloud lifted a hand and tapped his chin. "Funny," he commented with a smirk. "For being at death's door, you look really good, Leon darling."

Leon growled. Cloud was supposed to be on _his_ side, not the brat's. Glaring at his lover, he answered, "You'd better enjoy that hickey while it lasts, Cloud _dear_. You won't be getting any more any time soon."

Sora nearly died laughing; Kairi saved him by cracking him upside the head.

xXx

The rest of the day they spent on the road. Kairi and Riku went in Sora's car, and Cloud went along with Leon, who had allowed himself to be coaxed back into a good mood by some well-placed kisses. On their previous trip, Leon had opened the top of his convertible and let the 70 mph wind drown all hope of conversation. Since they had both needed to think more than talk during that drive, the setup had been quite pleasant. But this time, he kept the top up and, even before the house was out of sight, asked Cloud to describe some of the other dimensions for him. After recovering from his initial surprise, Cloud complied.

He began with his own dimension: his hometown of Nibelheim, the elevated city of Midgar and the slums underneath, the flashy amusement park known as the Gold Saucer. Then he moved on to the world of the Organization: the dark city with tall skyscrapers, the twin castles with their white, sterile rooms, the rain that fell so often that the streets had eternal puddles which reflected and distorted the ever-present neon lights. When he had finished describing the worlds he knew best, he moved on to the ones he had visited. A medieval-type land where time travel was possible. A world that had tall, rat-like warriors in addition to humans, although some had horns and others had monkey-like tails. A civilization that had created a VR game so realistic that some felt it had developed a mind of its own. All of these and more Cloud described until Leon felt like his brain would begin to leak from all the images and information.

When they finally arrived at Leon's house, Cloud was exhausted and his throat was sore. Leon sent him off to bed while he helped Sora bring in the bags and then organize where everyone was to stay. After setting up Sora and Kairi on the air mattress and Riku on the couch and making sure everyone had enough pillows and blankets, he retired to his room and gratefully slipped into bed next to his blond lover. Unsurprisingly, Cloud was already asleep, and it didn't take long for Leon to follow suit.

The next day, Cloud pronounced Riku recovered, and Sora rejoiced. Outside in the afternoon sun, Leon stood on the sidelines and relived his own experience as Riku walked up to his little brother with intent. He stuck his sword in the ground, and Cloud thrust one of First Tsurugi's smaller blades into the soil next to it. Riku took the earphones out of his shiny, new-looking PHS and placed them on Sora's temples.

Kairi slipped her hands around Leon's arm as she stood next to him. He could feel her nervousness, but truthfully he could not ease it for her. He could still remember vividly all the emotions he had felt that afternoon. The fear, the helplessness, the anger, and that strange acceptance of what was happening as long as it would mean Cloud was no longer alone. He hadn't been alone, though. One of the four other victims stood before his brother now, and, like Cloud, he had been saved and given a second chance.

"Ready?" Riku asked.

"You bet!" Sora obviously felt no fear, only a kind of twitchy excitement.

Cloud stepped back, another part of First Tsurugi in his hand. He and Riku had agreed that he would stay close just in case Sora reacted poorly to the "reflex test". Riku caught his eyes briefly and then, looking back to Sora, pushed the button.

Kairi stiffened and released a small sound of distress as Sora's body snapped and spasmed briefly from the jolt of information surging through him. Leon rubbed her hands gently with his own, but his eyes never left his brother's face. So that was what he had looked like when Zack had done it to him. More surprise than pain, like touching metal in winter and receiving a sharp shock except on a grander scale. Riku caught Sora before he could hit the ground and began to question him about dizziness, blurred vision, affected hearing, just like Zack had done. Leon took a slow breath, knowing exactly what was to come next.

The hand that held Kairi's tightened as the black blade whizzed through the air, aimed at Sora's legs rather than his head. To everyone's surprise, Sora reacted immediately, although not by going for Cloud's blade. Instead he jumped, twisting mid-air to land behind Riku while still facing him. With a great grin on his young face, Sora kicked out a leg and very nearly took Riku's feet out from under him. Instead, Riku leapt away and Sora ran after him, claiming the extra blade on his way past like picking up a set of car keys or something equally commonplace. Laughing like mad, Sora began a friendly bout of sparring with his friend, using his shorter height to his advantage in ways Leon had never imagined.

Next to him, Kairi gaped at them. She had suppressed a scream when Riku had attacked, but Sora's reactions had eased her fears. Now, however, something else was bothering her.

"He's drunk!"

"What?" Leon turned to her, not sure he had heard correctly.

"Sora," she replied, fixing her eyes on him. "He's drunk! Listen to him. He only laughs like that when he's drunk."

"It is a type of intoxication, yes," Cloud said to her as he joined them. "It's different than an alcohol-induced state though. Senses are heightened instead of diminished for one thing. Plus, there's no hangover."

Kairi blinked for a moment, taking all of that in. Then, a grin spread over her face as she asked, "Does that mean Leon got drunk, too?"

"Excuse me?"

"Sure," Cloud answered her, ignoring Leon's dangerous expression. "He's an angry drunk."

Kairi giggled. "No surprise there."

"You two realize this is my house and I can kick you both out, don't you?"

Cloud made to comment, but a loud clashing of blades drew their attention back to the other two. Riku was on one knee, holding his sword with both hands over his head as Sora pressed down from above him. A moment later, they had fallen apart, but when they came back together, Sora again quickly gained the upper ground.

"Riku's _losing?_ " Kairi cried, astounded.

Cloud shook his head. "No, he's holding back. Look at his eyes. He hasn't activated anything."

"How can you tell?" Leon asked. "His eyes are already green."

"I can tell. He's making sure he doesn't hurt Sora, but he's not as experienced with holding back as Zack is." Cloud frowned, his eyes watching the two young men carefully. "And Sora isn't holding back at all," he continued. "At this rate, one of them is going to get hurt." Before Leon could react, Cloud sprang forward, blade in hand. "Riku! Switch out!"

Riku complied, and Leon watched in semi-horror as his lover and his brother crashed together, separated only by their blades. Sora hadn't even paused at the change in opponents. His eyes gleamed blue-green, and his grin looked half-manic. He really was drunk, Leon thought. Had that been how he had looked when he fought Zack and Reno? He remembered the battle lust that raged through him, the need to fight that he couldn't suppress, the way Zack's smile had infuriated him beyond rational thought. Shuddering slightly, he pushed the memories away. Damn these Skywalker chemicals. They were dangerous.

Even from the sidelines, Leon could tell that all of Cloud's attacks were designed to disarm Sora. After several tense minutes, he finally succeeded, and when Sora chased after it, Cloud threw down his own blade and tackled the smaller man around the waist. They both crashed to the ground where Sora began to fight like a wildcat.

"Kairi! Get over here and calm him down."

As she ran to obey, Riku walked up to Leon, still breathing hard. He smiled at him and commented, "You Leonharts are something. More talent in the two of you than in a whole freaking regiment."

Leon didn't know how to reply to that, so instead he asked, "This means you'll be leaving soon?"

"Yeah."

"And you and Cloud have estimated you'll be back … ?"

"Four days at the most."

Leon sighed. Out on the grass, Sora had passed out, much like Leon had done after his first battle. He lay in Kairi's arms as she asked questions of Cloud who answered them with gestures of reassurance.

"Four days," he echoed quietly, trying to ignore the feelings of uneasiness that were creeping up on him.

xXx

Riku left that afternoon, and Leon witnessed a jump for the first time. Riku had stood in the middle of the lawn, wings outstretched to their limit, hands pressed together and eyes closed. Blue bolts of electricity had shot from each wingtip towards each other, and when they met over Riku's head, the air surrounding him rippled and flickered. A moment later, Riku had disappeared with the customary _CRACK_ , leaving behind in Leon's mind a faint impression of blackness interlaced with fine glowing lines.

That night Sora wouldn't stop talking about his new abilities, and Cloud refused to say a word. Leon could see the worry in his lover's eyes, and nothing he did or said seemed to banish it completely. Even when they retired to bed, he could see it lingering there. He drove it away for a short while by making love to Cloud a second time, this time with far less nervousness and far more passion. But after they had both orgasmed and fallen back down, the worry returned and Cloud began to cry quietly, his emotions having been unfettered by the release. Leon just held him and prayed with everything he had for Riku's safety.

Six days later, Cloud was completely frantic. He simply would not stop pacing, his eyes glued to the screen of his PHS, his lips mumbling incoherencies. Sora and Kairi took turns watching him, mainly to ensure he didn't yank his hair out, while Leon pulled out every culinary trick he knew in an attempt to make something that the blond would eat. No matter what he made, Cloud only ate a few bites and then went back to his nervous fretting.

"I shouldn't have let him go," he kept saying, and nothing anyone could think of in reply could convince him otherwise.

Finally, a little bit after dinner, Leon could take no more. He stood up from his spot on the couch and seized Cloud by the shoulders as the blond tried to pass by him. "Calm down!" he demanded. "Worrying won't help anything!"

"But he's not back yet!" Cloud told him, even though they all knew it far too well. "He should have been back by now. But he's not! And the closest walkers are …" He paused to scroll around the screen for a moment. His eyes widened as he found what he wanted. In a calmer voice, he continued, "The closest walkers are closer than they were." As Leon came around to look over his shoulders, he examined the dots more closely and then shook his head. "But there are only two of them."

"Maybe it's Zack and Reno?"

"No, wait. There are two walkers but three life signs." His eyes widened even more, and his hands began to shake. "They've killed him," he whispered in a near-panic. "They've killed him and now they're bringing him back to show him to us before they take me."

"Cloud," Leon snapped, irritated in spite of himself, "if they had killed him, there wouldn't be three _life_ signs."

"Oh." Cloud blinked a bit and tried to hide his ashamed blush. "Well then, they've injured him somehow."

"And I still say it could be Zack and Reno, injured third party or not. There is no reason for you to assume the worst." Frowning, Leon flicked the PHS lightly with a finger. "Why doesn't someone invent a way to tell _who_ these dots belong to?"

"They did, but too many people wanted to remain anonymous, so they scrapped it." He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth and chewed on it. "They're still coming the right way."

"How long until they get here?" Leon asked. He reached up and pulled Cloud's lip out of his mouth.

"Twenty minutes."

"I'll go get Sora. We'll wait on the lawn, okay?"

"Yeah."

"And Cloud?"

"Hmm?" He lifted his eyes from the screen to look at Leon.

Leon closed the distance between them with a single step and wrapped his arms around Cloud, simultaneously turning him and bringing him closer. One hand slid up the blond's back to support his neck as Leon kissed him hard. He pried Cloud's unresisting lips open with his tongue and dove inside hungrily. In response, Cloud dropped the PHS and gripped Leon by the shoulders, eventually moving his hands upwards into Leon's hair. He melted into Leon's embrace, allowing Leon to dominate him completely and letting go of his anxiety by feeding off of the energy that Leon was providing him. By the time Leon pulled away, Cloud needed a minute to remember how to stand, but at the same time he seemed much stronger than he had been a moment ago.

"I love you," Leon told him, reaching up to brush some hair out of Cloud's eyes.

"And I love you," Cloud returned, smiling for the first time in days.

"Good." Leon bent to retrieve the PHS and handed it back to Cloud. "See you on the lawn," he said and then turned and left to find Sora.

Twenty minutes later, Leon and Cloud stood together on the front lawn, swords in hand, while Sora and Kairi waited a bit closer to the house. Since Kairi refused to stay inside, the two men with weapons decided that the one without would stay near her for some amount of protection. Sora had protested until Kairi accused him of not wanting to protect her; that had shut him up immediately.

The dots had kept right on coming towards their fold, not deviating even once. Cloud had watched them until they were only minutes away. Now he stood next to Leon as they both held their blades out towards the spot where they assumed the two would appear. Even though Leon had no idea what Sephiroth or any of his remaining brothers looked like, he knew that if the people showing up had silver hair, he was attacking first and asking for names second.

_CRACK! - ACK!_

The sudden burst of light made Leon narrow his eyes briefly, but he kept them open as two men, one with black hair and one with red, stepped out of silver-lined blackness. The Gunblade lowered as his shoulders slumped with relief.

"Zack! Reno!" Cloud cried, taking a step forward. But he stopped when he saw the figure held in Reno's arms.

"Hey, Spike!" Reno yelled. "Catch!" He made a movement as if to toss the person he carried, but Zack leapt on him.

"Don't throw her, you idiot!" He ripped the limp body from Reno's grasp, and Leon finally got a good look at it. It was a young woman, blonde, and wearing all white. "Sweet Shiva," Zack commented, stepping away from his friend and towards Cloud, "I don't know why I let you carry her in the first place."

As Zack gently placed the unconscious girl on the grass, Cloud stomped up to him and, much to Leon's surprise, demanded angrily, "Are you two mad? Why do you have Naminé? Where's Riku?"

"Sorry," Zack replied, shaking his head and standing up. "We don't have time to explain. If no one tells you by the time we get back, then I'll do it." He grinned at Cloud. "Take care of her, okay? See ya!"

"Wait! Zack!"

_CRACK! CRACK!_

For nearly a full minute, Leon and Cloud both stood there, stunned. While they stared at the empty space that had recently held two oddball Skywalkers, Sora and Kairi both went to the girl. Leon spared a quick glance at her but could see nothing special about her pretty face or her simple appearance. He looked up at Cloud, who had finally turned to him, and started, "What the hell was --?"

_CRACK! CRACK!_

All four of them jumped as the air split again and two figures stepped out of the blackness. But it was not Zack and Reno returning, and Leon couldn't even tell by looking whether or not they had silver hair. They wore long, black cloaks that covered every inch of skin and hid their faces completely. One was tall and painfully thin, the other shorter and normally-built.

"The Organization," Cloud hissed. He raised his sword to point at them, and Leon did the same. "But which ones?"

In response, the shorter of the two lifted black-gloved hands and pushed back his hood. As the fabric fell away, it revealed a surprisingly young face with soft blond hair and clear blue eyes, much like Riku's coloring had been once. But while Riku's eyes were always teasing and slightly smug, this young man gazed at Cloud with seriousness and maturity.

"Roxas," Cloud breathed, letting the tip of his blade fall.

Roxas smiled slightly, a small smirk that turned up one corner of his mouth. When he spoke, his quiet voice carried across the lawn without effort.

"Long time no see … Cloud."


	14. Assembling the Host

"Long time no see … Cloud."

Leon swallowed hard. He honestly could not tell whether or not Roxas and his unknown companion were a threat. The young man was extremely intimidating, in spite of his baby face and smaller stature. Leon didn't know if it was the black cloak, the great black wings, or something within Roxas himself, in the gravity of his eyes or the power of his voice. But whatever it was, something was surrounding Roxas with a crackling energy, and it made Leon keep the Gunblade ready even as Cloud relaxed his battle stance.

A moment later, however, the effect was ruined by the other Organization member, the tall, skinny one.

"Never fear!" he declared, throwing one elbow on top of Roxas's head and leaning against it like he was a piece of furniture. "The Flurry of Dancing Flames is here!"

Roxas scowled deeply, and the mysterious aura around him evaporated, leaving only a sense of childlike annoyance. "Get off me!" he ordered, flinging his arms upwards at the other man. "I'm not your fricking armrest!"

Cloud laughed, and at the sound, Leon's anxiety finally melted. "Hello, Axel. Good to see you."

"Same here, blondie," Axel replied, striding forward and blatantly ignoring Roxas's grumbles. "Same here." He pushed his hood back, and Leon jumped slightly at the sight of fire-engine red hair, layers of it cascading down over his shoulders. Equally startling green eyes peered at Cloud. "You've put on weight! Just a bit, but enough that I can tell."

Cloud smirked at him. "Home-cooking does that to you. You should try it. You could stand to put on a pound. Or twenty."

"Riiiight," Axel shifted his eyes to Leon, and he suddenly had the urge to run away. Very far away. "The new boyfriend. I heard about him from Riku." He dug an elbow into Cloud's side good-naturedly. "He's cute. Not my type, of course, but a good match for you. Just don't let him fatten you up too much." He grinned suddenly, a rather feral expression. "Course you can always work off the extra calories with _exercise_ , right Cloud-o?"

"All right, that's enough!" Roxas declared. He stomped up to Axel, grabbed him around a wrist, and yanked him away from Cloud. "We don't have time for this. Riku's on his way, and we're all supposed to jump at the same time to mask his print. Which is why I brought you along," he snarled at Axel. "So you can _watch_ the damn _path_ for me!"

"Right, I know," Axel replied sweetly. "You don't have to get that pretty nose so bent out of shape." He leaned down a bit and tapped said nose with a finger.

Roxas swiped angrily at him. When Axel backed off, chuckling quietly, Roxas turned away and grumbled, "I need to get a new boyfriend."

"You've been saying that ever since I met you," Cloud returned with a smile. "And yet you're still together."

Blue eyes shot daggers in Cloud's direction, and Leon couldn't believe how much that little pout resembled the one his brother often wore when he was upset. Riku had said that Roxas reminded him of Sora; for the first time, Leon could see it. That and the mention of Riku being in transit comforted him enough that he stuck the Gunblade in the ground and leaned back on his heels, crossing his arms over his chest, to listen.

"We don't have time for this," Roxas griped, clearly annoyed by the references to his social life. He dug into his cloak and pulled out three tubes, each about the size of a glue stick. Thrusting them at Cloud, he ordered, "Here. Take these."

"What are they?" the taller blond asked as he obeyed.

"Anti-brother programs," Roxas answered with a smile. "Zexion made them."

Cloud paused in his examination of a tube to stare wide-eyed at Roxas. "You're kidding!"

The smile grew wider. "No, I'm not." He turned his head to look over his shoulder and asked Axel, "How much time do we have?"

"About ten minutes," the red-head replied. His eyes watched the screen of his PHS while his gloved fingers tapped restlessly along the sides.

"That should be enough time to explain." Roxas turned back to Cloud, put one hand on a hip, and shifted his weight onto the corresponding foot so as to get more comfortable. "When Riku showed up, he told me everything. How he had broken the program, these new friends of yours, and how the four of you are planning on standing up to Sephiroth. I don't know if you knew this, but Axel and I convinced Demyx a while back to join with us in our stand against the brother program. The three of us have been putting pressure on Zexion to look into a way to counteract it."

"Dem is dating Zex now," Axel put in with a grin. "So it was a lot more pressure than you might expect."

Cloud rolled his eyes a bit at the news. "Demyx and Zexion, you and Roxas. Who's next? Vexen and Marluxia?"

Axel laughed. "Wouldn't surprise me!"

"What else are we supposed to do?" Roxas asked with a shrug. "Xemnas won't let us associate with anyone outside the Organization. We might as well pair up with each other."

"And no one wants to fuck Larxene. She's _nuts!_ "

"All right, enough," Roxas snapped at the red-head over his shoulder. Turning back to Cloud, he continued, "About these programs. I convinced Riku to let Zexion take a look at him. To try to figure out how he had broken down the programming. It took a couple of days, but Zex did it and he made those." Roxas nodded to the tubes in Cloud's hand. "Inject one of those into each of the remaining brothers and it should forcibly remove the program."

"And how," Cloud asked, "am I supposed to get close enough to them to do that?"

Roxas smirked. "That's your problem."

"Yeah, what do you want out of us? A miracle?"

The shorter blond spun on his heel to yell at his boyfriend. "Are you watching for Riku or not?"

"I got it covered, love. Trust me."

Cloud's poor abused lip was receiving another beating as his eyes regarded the tubes once more. In a worried tone, he asked Roxas, "Did Riku tell you he nearly died when he broke the program?"

The other stopped his glaring and turned back to answer. "Yeah, he did. But he had to actually fight to destroy the machines. The toll that battle took on his body was what caused the near-fatal reaction, or at least that's what Zexion concluded. This injection, however, is a counter-program designed to neutralize the existing one. The body won't get involved at all." Roxas shrugged again and added, "Probably." The thought of the other brothers dying didn't seem to upset him in the slightest.

"Roxas …"

"Use them or not, Cloud," he interrupted with a hard edge to his voice. "It's your choice. If it doesn't work, it'll kill them, and if it does, it'll knock them out a bit while the program deactivates. Either way, you'll have enough time to deal with Sephiroth by himself." He waved a hand dismissively. "I've done my part by giving them to you. We need to go now."

"Wait!" Cloud lifted his free hand, and his eyes strayed to the blonde on the ground. "What about Nami--"

"Ah!" Roxas cut him off, thrusting his hand up into Cloud's face and making him step back. "That's right. I forgot." A sly expression slipped onto his young face. " _Someone_ went and kidnapped Marluxia's pet experiment. The Organization is jumping all over looking for her. Axel and I volunteered to come in this direction. So what about it, Ax?" He slid his eyes over to his boyfriend. "You see a girl around here who matches her description?"

At Roxas's question, Axel's grin turned almost evil. His bright green eyes rested pointedly on Kairi. "I see a girl, Rox, but she's got brown hair. Not blonde."

"Right," Roxas replied. "That's that, then." He turned his back on Cloud and began to walk towards the open space of the lawn.

"This was Riku's idea, wasn't it?" Cloud asked softly.

Roxas looked back at him over his shoulder with an innocent expression. "I don't know what you're talking about, Cloud." He smiled sweetly in a way that once again reminded Leon of his little brother. Almost as if he had read Leon's mind, Roxas's eyes shifted. "Sora." When he had the brunet's attention, he continued, "Take care of Oathkeeper for me, okay? She's one of my favorites."

"Forty-five seconds," Axel announced as he joined Roxas in the open area of grass.

"Good luck," Roxas called to Cloud. "Riku and I have done everything we could think of to even the playing field for you, but it'll still be up to you to win." His eyes narrowed a bit, and his face took on that serious expression once more. "Do it, Cloud. End this."

"I will," Cloud answered evenly. Strength radiated from him: his voice, his stance, his face. With all of the worry and unease that had been plaguing his lover for the past several days, Leon had almost forgotten how wonderfully fierce and driven Cloud could be.

"Ten seconds."

Roxas smiled. "Good-bye then. Enjoy your new life."

"Now!"

Two sets of wings stretched out wide and lit up with blue fire. This time, however, when the air split, a silver light poured out, causing Leon to turn away for fear of being blinded. The accompanying cracking noise was near-deafening and rang in Leon's ears long after it had faded away. When he finally felt it safe to turn back, he found Riku striding forward, wings already retracted, towards Sora, Kairi, and the new arrival on the ground.

"Is she awake yet?" he asked as way of a greeting.

"Riku!" Kairi cried as Sora accused, "Where have you been?"

He blinked at them, green eyes innocent. "Didn't Roxas explain?"

"Some of it," Cloud answered, walking up to him. "But not all. That means you get to fill in the blanks."

"All right." He went back to his examination of Naminé. After checking her pulse and laying a hand against her forehead, he lifted his gaze to Cloud and commented, "You know more about healing drugs than I do. Could you take a look at her and see if there's anything you can give her?"

"Sure." Cloud dug his PHS out of his pocket and knelt down. "I should probably teach you this stuff some day," he commented as he began scanning.

Riku frowned. "Yeah. My education was severely lacking in that department. Although I know a ton of ways to _hurt_ people." He accepted the reassuring pat on the shoulder that Cloud gave him and then looked up at Leon as he walked over. "So what did Roxas tell you?"

"That you and he talked and got some other Organization member to make anti-brother programs," Leon answered. "That's about it. We still don't know why Zack and Reno went running off or why they left this girl here."

Riku took a breath before replying, "Okay, I'll start from the beginning then." He settled himself more comfortably on the ground, and Leon took the opportunity to join the rest of them by sitting himself. "When I got back to the fold, I went to see Roxas and explained. He was very happy for me and gladly gave me a blade for Sora." He pointed over to where he had arrived. When Leon followed the line of sight he indicated, he noticed two swords stuck in the ground; Riku had shoved them in before running to Naminé. Next to Riku's black blade was a strange-looking weapon consisting of joined metal rods -- three for the hilt, two for the blade -- and an odd star-shaped protrusion near the end, blue with yellow tips. Dangling from the hilt was a chain with another smaller star at the end.

"Oathkeeper, right?" Sora asked with a smile.

"That's right," Riku replied, slightly surprised. "It's one of the two that Roxas uses most, so I was really shocked that he would give it up. But once I had described you, Sora, he insisted." He paused to smile at the other young man, his expression full of things that Leon could not read and probably would not have understood in any case.

After a moment, Cloud prompted him by saying, "And then you went to Zexion." He flipped the top of the PHS open, exposing the needle, and pulled up the sleeve of Naminé's dress.

"Yeah," Riku returned, for some reason averting his eyes from the sight of Cloud injecting the blonde girl. "That's part of the reason why I'm so late."

"And the other part … ?"

"Is … well … Nami."

A small smile crept into Cloud's lips. "Uh-huh."

Riku's eyes widened, and his face flushed slightly. "What do you mean 'uh-huh'?"

"Nothing. Do continue."

Green eyes narrowed dangerously for a minute. Leon thought he knew what was going on, but he kept his mouth shut and the moment finally passed. "Well, Roxas sent Axel out to find Zack and Reno while we went to see Zexion. Then, when we were ready to come back, I had this idea. Naminé may not be one of Sephiroth's toys, but she is still a victim and deserves to be saved. So, if Zack and Reno 'kidnapped' her, then Roxas and Axel could 'chase' them and I could jump in as they jumped out. By masking my print, we'll get a few more days to prepare, help Leon and Sora improve, let Cloud and me get even better. You know, that kind of thing." He looked around at them as if demanding support.

"That sounds fine," Leon said, smiling at bit at the obvious relief in Riku's face. "But why did Zack and Reno take off again?"

"So that no one else will be able to tell exactly where they dropped Nami off. They're going to jump to at least four more folds before coming back here, and Roxas and Axel will follow them around. Yes, it's a bit more suspicious for Zack and Reno to come here twice, but the Organization is only interested in Naminé. Roxas and Axel will report back that they didn't find her and that someone else must have taken her."

Cloud gently lifted the unconscious girl and arranged her to lie partly in his lap. "And the upshot of all of this," he commented in response to Riku's explanation, "is that now the Organization is in disarray so Seph won't be able to recruit anyone who might be willing to go against Xemnas's orders."

"Right!" Riku beamed at him, obviously happy to get the other's approval.

"And you get to be Naminé's knight in shining armor."

_"What?!?"_

"She's waking up," Kairi announced before Riku could tear Cloud's head off. Without looking, she reached out and smacked Sora who had fallen over laughing at his best friend's embarrassment.

Naminé's eyes were fluttering, and she slowly opened them, revealing pretty blue eyes. After a moment of confusion, they focused on the face above her.

"Cloud?"

"Hey, Nami," Cloud replied, smiling at her. "Welcome to freedom."

"Freedom?" she echoed, not understanding. Her eyes began to move, passing over Sora's and Kairi's faces in non-recognition only to come to a sudden stop at a face she obviously did know. "Riku!" she cried weakly, her fingers coming up to clutch at Cloud's arm.

"It's okay," Cloud soothed her as Riku hung his head in shame. The pain in the young man's face that Leon had momentarily seen clawed at his heart. Obviously Riku had been made to torture more souls than just Cloud.

"It's okay, Nami. Calm down," Cloud continued to say to her, running a hand through her long hair. He turned to the man beside him and ordered, "Riku, show her your eyes."

Riku hesitated but finally complied. Naminé seemed not to understand for a moment, but eventually her frightened face eased into an expression of disbelief. "You … ?" she asked, her voice quiet and timid. "The program … ?"

"Yeah." He smiled a little. "I broke it." But a moment later, his smile slipped, and his eyes dropped. Some of his hair fell forward to cover part of his face as he said quietly, "I'm really sorry. You know, about the stuff I did. I don't know if you can forgive me, but I wanted to apologize anyway …" He trailed off when she reached out and touched his hand with her own. Surprised, Riku looked up directly into her smiling face. She didn't say anything, but they could all see her answer nonetheless.

"Here, Riku," Cloud said, easing Naminé out of his arms and into the other man's. "You support her for a minute. I want to talk to Leon. Why don't you introduce her to Sora and Kairi?" As he stood, he smirked a bit at the sight of Riku's dazed expression. Leon rose as well when Cloud waved at him, and together they moved a small distance away.

"So who exactly is Naminé?" Leon asked him once they were out of earshot. "Roxas called her someone's pet experiment."

"Marluxia's. He's an Organization member too."

"I gathered."

Cloud nodded and continued to explain, "Naminé is the lone survivor from a fold of telepaths. Marluxia found her and made it his personal goal to figure out how telepathy works. He's been studying her for years." His blue eyes slipped back to the weary blonde who now had her head on Riku's shoulder as Sora and Kairi talked to her. "The poor girl has been drugged for most of that time. More than likely to keep her powers suppressed. Apparently she spent more time asleep than awake."

Leon blinked a bit but let the idea of telepaths actually existing slide right off of him. After all, he had nanomachines in his head that messed with his memory and was dating a winged man who had once been able to jump dimensions. A telepath should be commonplace after such things.

"Apparently?" he asked, referring to Cloud's final comment.

Cloud returned his attention to him as he answered, "I don't know much personally about the Organization's activities. The information I did get came from Reno who got it from Axel since the two of them are good friends. Reno told me about Naminé. I saw her a few times, but I've never spoken to her before today. Although I did get tortured in front of her once so Marluxia could monitor her response to another's pain."

Wincing, Leon gathered his lover into his arms. He still had trouble hearing any reference to Cloud's painful past. The blond himself seemed to have gotten over most of it, the only exception being the occasional bout of self-hate or feelings of unworthiness. But Leon couldn't stop the surges of protectiveness and mild pangs of guilt that attacked him whenever he thought of someone hurting his Cloud, even if it had been long before the two had met. It made him want to hold the blond close to his heart and keep him there until the world fell apart around them.

Cloud seemed to realize that this embrace was for Leon's benefit, not his, for he allowed himself to be held, laying his head down on Leon's shoulder. "Wonder what Riku did to her," he murmured to himself after a moment.

"You don't know?"

"No. I don't think I want to know either."

Leon shut his eyes briefly, internally agreeing with that sentiment. Riku's pain had been so clear. Pain, however, had not been the only emotion to cross that young face. Smirking a little, Leon commented, "But he has a crush on her?"

Cloud chuckled against his shoulder, answering the question before his voice did. "Oh yeah. Like I said, we could see the real him behind the machines. He's got it bad."

"What about her?"

"Who knows? You saw how she reacted to him."

"And yet you played matchmaker." He couldn't stop the grin that took over his lips. Of all the people in the world to try to get a young couple together …

Cloud obviously realized this as well, for he commented, "For what it's worth, sure. That's about the extent of my plotting, though. They'll have to do the rest themselves."

"Or let Sora and Kairi do it for them."

"Let's not tell them. Riku will thank us."

"Good idea." He tightened his grip a little and shifted his weight onto the other foot. After a breath, he said, "All right, let me see if I have this all straight. Once Zack and Reno come back, we'll be six against four, and three of those four might be able to be neutralized if we can somehow get those programs into them." Cloud stiffened a bit, so Leon added, "If you decide to use them, that is. We also have two noncombatants, one of whom needs to be kept hidden so that our enemies don't go reporting back that she's here and bringing the entire Organization onto my front lawn. We all have weapons now, so that problem is solved. We need to work out a strategy, but we should wait until Zack and Reno show up to do that and you should probably decide on those tubes by then as well." He shrugged Cloud's head off of his shoulder and captured it with a hand. "Did I forget anything?"

"Don't think so." He paused for a moment, considering, and then added with a small smirk, "Yes actually, you did. You forgot the part where you kiss me until Sora yells at us to take it inside."

Leon laughed. "But not in the kitchen."

"But not in the kitchen," Cloud agreed. His hands were suddenly at the back of Leon's head, pulling him in. The tiniest hint of green flickered at him.

Leon hesitated for only a moment. "You know, I must really love you to put up with all of this shit."

Cloud didn't even blink. "Leon, you were straight before you met me. I think you love me enough that I can pile twice as much shit on you and you'll _still_ stick with me." His hands pulled again, this time harder.

"I think you're right," Leon replied. And he stopped fighting.


	15. Surrender

"You know, Cloud," Leon said, dumping his armful of grocery bags on the counter, "back when I agreed to stand by you against Sephiroth, you never mentioned that it would involve me cooking for _eight_ people, _four_ of whom are Skywalkers." He glared over at the blond who was leaning against the refrigerator and munching on an apple.

Cloud shrugged at him and swallowed his current bite before replying, "Well, if I had, you probably wouldn't have agreed." The tiniest hint of a smile flitted over his face.

Leon grumbled and began unloading food from the bags. "Do you have any idea how much money I just handed over for these?"

"Oh stop griping, Squall." Leon looked up to find that Sora had appeared at his elbow and was helping to unpack the bags. His little brother grinned at him and continued, "You're filthy rich. You can afford it."

"Wait, so he's good-looking, talented, _and_ rich?" Reno asked from his spot at the kitchen table. "Not bad, Spike. Not bad." He leaned back dangerously far in his chair, pulling two legs off of the ground. "So, Squall, you got a sister?"

Leon turned slowly and stared down the red-head. Deliberately, he stated, "My name is Leon."

"The kid called you Squall."

"The kid is my little brother and has been my friend and companion through every difficult moment of my life. You are a stranger and got your ass kicked by Cloud when you were armed and he wasn't. You will call me Leon."

Reno gulped while Zack, sitting across from him at the table, laughed mercilessly at him. From his spot on the other side of the room, Cloud commented, "Just be glad he's not making you call him 'sir'."

"I think I'd pay to see that!" Zack declared. He dodged the drink coaster that Reno had hurled at his head.

Reno was saved from any further embarrassment by the ringing of the phone. Sora leapt for it before Leon could react and answered it immediately.

"Hello!" he chirped into the receiver. "You have reached the home of Squall Leonhart, aka Leon Heartilly, the semi-famous romance novelist and best brother in the whole world. This is Sora Leonhart speaking. How may I direct your call?" After a pause, he looked up and announced, "Squall, it's your editor."

"Hang up on him," Leon ordered.

"He said I'm to hang up on you, so good-bye." But before he could, Leon's editor was talking again, his near-frantic tone just barely audible. Sora listened for a moment and then looked at Leon again with wide eyes. "You're _retiring?_ "

Leon winced. He hadn't wanted to tell them yet, but there was no denying it now. "Sort of. I'm going to keep writing, but I'm not going to do romances anymore."

Sora's entire face lit up. He opened his mouth to comment, but the voice on the phone stopped him. After listening for a second, Sora cried into the receiver, "Talk him out of it? Are you nuts? I've been trying to talk him _into_ it for years! Yeah, I'm hanging up now. See ya." The pleading on the other end stopped abruptly with a beep, and Sora threw the phone onto the counter before attaching himself around Leon's waist. "I'm so happy for you!" he exclaimed. "Are you writing something now? Can I see it? What genre is it? What's the plot? I'm sure it's awesome. 'Cause, you know, you're really talented even though you've been wasting it for years on heaving and throbbing."

Repressing a sigh, Leon reached down and ruffled his brother's hair. "To answer your questions, yes, no, not telling, and also not telling. You'll have to wait until it's finished."

"Awwwww …"

"Hold up a sec." Zack had one finger in the air as if asking to be noticed. "Leon writes romance novels?"

"Oh yeah," Cloud answered with a monster smirk. He stood up straight and started out the door. "Come on. I'll show you." Zack immediately leapt up to follow him.

"Yo, wait for me!" Reno called after them. The chair clattered dangerously as he jumped out of it, but it eventually settled back with all four legs on the floor.

Leon groaned and resisted the urge to bang his head against the counter. "As if the oven mitts weren't enough," he grumbled to himself. "Now I'll have all three of them in the act."

"Oven mitts?" Sora questioned.

"Never mind." He grimaced at the laughter that was already floating out from the bedroom. This was going to be a nightmare. "Where's Kairi?" he asked as he pulled out enough steak to reassemble an entire cow. "I'm going to need help if I'm supposed to cook for this many."

"She went to the video store and took Riku and Naminé with her. I asked her to pick up some movies for us to watch tonight."

"Which ones?"

Sora grinned. " _Star Wars_ , of course."

"Of course."

"I also suggested she pick up _The Matrix_ what with the whole zapping of information straight into your brain thing."

"So you and Kairi are going to turn my living room into a theater for a sci-fi film festival, and Cloud is in the process of recruiting new players for his game of 'Tease Leon until he snaps'." Another round of laughter rang out from the romance readers, making Leon sigh and shake his head. "I used to have such a quiet life," he lamented. "Just me by myself. How the hell did it turn into so much noise and chaos?"

Sora laughed at him and gave him a quick hug. "That one's easy, Squall. You fell in love. Isn't it wonderful?"

They both jumped at a mild crash from the bedroom. Cloud's voice yelled something in reprimand, but everything soon dissolved into laughter once more. Leon sighed again and rubbed his aching forehead.

"I give up."

xXx

Movie night was a relative success. At the onset, Leon had to stop a popcorn fight between Sora and Riku and then listen to Reno bitch about the lack of anything stronger than beer. (Leon had plenty, but he wasn't about to let the red-head know that.) When the film started, things calmed down somewhat. Although once Sora suggested that Cloud would have looked good in the role of Luke, Zack and Reno couldn't help sniggering at every line that came from Mark Hamill's mouth.

Interestingly enough, the movie did not seem to hold Cloud's attention. Just as the heroes were struggling through the final battle -- "Use the force, you fucking moron!" "Reno! Will you watch your mouth? There are ladies present!" "Ifrit's fiery balls, Riku, who jammed a stick up your ass? Zack?" "Don't look at me. I don't touch straight guys. They have cooties." -- Leon felt a sneaky tongue begin to slide its way along the shell of his ear. He hissed a warning at his lover, but Cloud didn't stop. The tongue continued to move, occasionally slipping inside, and soon teeth had begun to nip gently at his earlobe. Leon dug his fingernails into the shoulder he held; Cloud only chuckled softly and continued his seduction. By the time the credits were rolling, Leon was fighting to keep his breathing steady so that no one else would notice.

However, in spite of his efforts, someone had in fact noticed. Next to him, Naminé turned her head and regarded him with her clear blue eyes. Leon felt himself begin to turn red at her examination, but then she smiled gently.

"You look tired, Leon," she commented. "You've done so much for us since yesterday, accepting us into your home and taking care of us. You deserve to rest." When Cloud faked a yawn, she added, "You too, Cloud. Both of you go get some sleep."

"What about the second movie?" Sora protested, waving the box at them.

"I've seen it," Leon replied as casually as he could.

"And I can see it some other time," Cloud added, faking another yawn. "Sorry, Sora, but I doubt I'd make it through anyway." He made a show of having trouble getting to his feet; Leon was actually impressed by his acting.

As he stood, Leon asked with a smirk, "You gonna be able to make it to the bedroom without falling? Maybe I should I carry you." The joking around had made his arousal less obvious, but he was still glad for the dimmed lights in the room.

"No thank you," Cloud replied to his offer. "I'll be fine."

"Yeah," Zack chipped in from his spot on the floor. "Save that stuff for the wedding night. You are going to invite me, aren't you, Spike?"

"Stay on my good side and you can be my maid of honor."

"Awesome! Just no taffeta, okay? Oh, and I look awful in seafoam."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Reno groaned loudly and shook his bottle of beer at them. "If you're going, go! Yo, Sora, put that other movie on. It's got fighting and shit, right?"

"Yeah. Lots."

"Good. These queers are gonna make me vomit. I need a testosterone jolt stat!"

"Coming right up!" Sora cried, jumping for the DVD player while Zack laughed at Reno's discomfort.

"Good night, Leon, Cloud," Kairi called from her chair. The others echoed her in their own ways, and Leon and Cloud sent their goodnights around the room as well.

As they rounded the corner of the hallway towards the bedroom, Leon half-expected to be pinned up against the wall, but Cloud behaved himself. In fact, Cloud hadn't so much as brushed up against Leon by the time they got to the bedroom where Leon locked the door and promptly turned on the other man.

"You fucking brat! How could you do that to me in front of everyone else? And with Naminé sitting right there!" He hung his head a bit and rubbed at his eyes. "Dear God, if she picked up on half of the things I was thinking about doing to you … . The poor girl's going to need serious therapy."

Cloud just smirked at him. "I was bored."

"Yeah well, if you're so bored, you can go to sleep."

"You don't want to do those things you were thinking about?"

"No," Leon answered with a glare. "Not with everyone else sitting out there. So you can just get into your pajamas, because nothing's going to happen toni--" His voice died suddenly as he finally looked into Cloud's eyes and paid attention to what he was seeing. The normal flickers of green that always appeared when Cloud was aroused had intensified to the point where the blond's eyes were actually glowing. "Are … are you okay, Cloud?" Leon asked uncertainly.

"I'm fine," Cloud replied, his gaze and voice both perfectly even. He took a step forward, and in spite of the fact that this was the man he loved and trusted more than any other, Leon took a step back. "I was just wondering …" Another step forward and back. "Which position did Rinoa prefer?" And another. "Was she a missionary girl?"

Leon's back hit the door. He pressed up against it, for some reason unable to wrench his gaze away from those glowing eyes. "Y-yeah, she was."

"But I bet," Cloud said, still taking deliberate steps forward, "every so often, she flipped on you and wanted to play cowgirl. Didn't she?"

"Every so often," Leon admitted. Cloud's hands were on his shirt now, slowly pushing each individual button through its corresponding hole. Leon's brain was spinning. Why was Cloud asking these questions while acting so very strange?

"Yeah, I thought so." Leon's shirt was open now, and Cloud's hands were slowly sliding over his chest. He leaned forward and brought his lips next to Leon's right ear, not close enough to touch but close enough that Leon could feel Cloud's breath against his skin. "The thing is, even the most submissive lover in the world …" His hands began to move lower, tracing Leon's sides. "… occasionally feels the desire …" They slipped around to glide over the curves of Leon's backside. "… to completely and totally …" His lips came even closer to Leon's ear until his words seemed to flow directly into Leon's trembling body. "… _dominate_."

With his final word, Cloud pulled Leon towards him, grinding their lower halves together, while simultaneously clamping down on Leon's ear with his teeth. The double assault of pleasure tore a loud moan from Leon who immediately felt a rush of embarrassment at the sound.

"Cloud," he protested, trying to push the other away, "we can't. Everyone else …"

"… is a couple of rooms away watching a loud movie," Cloud finished for him. His fingers were already undoing Leon's pants. "Besides, I don't recall giving you a choice in the matter." No sooner had the zipper come down than Cloud's hands were on Leon's backside again, this time cupping flesh instead of fabric. He rocked their bodies together a second time, and Leon's head rolled back against his will, hitting against the wood of the door with a dull thud.

"Cloud …"

Warm fingers found his chin, and Leon opened his eyes to look directly into Cloud's, still glowing slightly. "You're a wonderful lover, Leon," the other man told him. "When you ravish me, it feels so good that I can barely breathe. You deserve to feel like that as well. So tonight, I'm going to ravish you." Before Leon could reply, Cloud was kissing him, pulling him close until it felt like their bodies had locked together.

Leon was utterly lost. He had no idea what to make of the feelings that Cloud was kindling in him. The blond was doing everything: taking off Leon's clothes, leading him to the bed, kissing him, touching him, making him shiver and cry out in desire. He felt helpless, like a small child, like everything that needed to be done was being done for him. It was a little frightening, but also a little liberating. Leon suspected that if he could get used to it, it could become something amazing.

The trouble was the fact that he wasn't the one in control. Cloud allowed Leon to touch his body and encouraged his equal participation in their kissing, but it was always clear that this was Cloud's show. Cloud was on top with the freedom of movement while Leon lay beneath, writhing and gasping from his touches. He knew he was supposed to just lie there and appreciate the worship his body was receiving, but it was so hard to give up his claim to dominance completely. That desire to flip Cloud over and seize back the reins kept nagging him at the back of his mind, making it impossible to fully enjoy what was happening to him.

And then a wet finger was pressing between his cheeks, and Leon panicked.

"Cloud! Wh-what … what are you doing?"

Cloud lifted his head from the nipple he had been sucking and smiled, his chin resting comfortably on Leon's chest. "Exactly what I said I'd do. I'm going to ravish you. Completely."

"No … no! I-I … I'm not … I'm not ready for that!"

"Sure you are. You just need to relax." He began kissing a trail down Leon's chest. "Relax. I promise if you don't like it I won't make you do it again. But you should try it at least once." He smiled again and licked a slow ring around Leon's navel before continuing, "You know, like your vegetables. Just try a bite and then you get dessert."

"That's not how my mom worked," Leon informed him, trying to ignore the pressure that was slowly getting worse. "She made us sit there until we cleaned our plates."

Cloud chuckled against Leon's abdomen, sending hot shivers running up and down his legs. "Then this should be no trouble for you," he remarked, and he lifted himself up so that he could run his tongue in a circle around Leon's head. Leon moaned at the sensation and then hissed as he realized that Cloud had used that moment to push the finger inside. He dug his fingers into the sheets as Cloud began to suck him off from one side and stretch him out from the other.

Even with the pleasure that Cloud's mouth was giving him, Leon had to grit his teeth and breathe carefully through his nose. It wasn't that it hurt, but holy fuck was it uncomfortable! Nothing any doctor or dentist had ever done to him compared to this. In his heart and in his mind, he knew that he adored Cloud with everything he had, but it was _taking_ everything he had not to tear Cloud off of him and hurl him out of the room with a black eye and a broken nose.

And then Cloud's finger moved _just so_.

A rippling shock of pleasure surged through Leon's body, leaving in its wake a burning need for it to happen again. Leon's eyes snapped open with the shock of it, and his lungs seized up, refusing to let go of the air they had captured. His cock suddenly seemed so much harder and tighter, and all of the uncomfortableness had miraculously dissipated.

Cloud chuckled and gave Leon's shaft a playful lick. "Found it," he teased. He moved his finger again, and again the wave flooded over Leon's senses.

When he came to this time, Leon was panting furiously. He sought out those glowing eyes with his own half-frantic ones. "Again," he near-begged.

Cloud smirked. "Sure."

This time, Leon rode the wave without fear or surprise, and the sheer bone-aching bliss of the feeling ripped a deep moan from him. When it had passed, he started to gasp, "A-agai--" But Cloud had anticipated the request and had started something that spelled utter doom for Leon: a rhythm. His finger moved steadily, in and out, circling slightly so as to help widen, and each time it passed over that special spot and added a bit of pressure before retreating.

"Oh god … oh … Cloud … oh _god_ …"

Cloud's mouth was on his once more, but Leon couldn't concentrate enough to kiss back. His brain was a formless haze; his body was on fire. He was going mad. At one point, he realized that two fingers were inside him, perhaps more, but he didn't care. He just wanted more, more, _more_ of this amazing feeling. He didn't want it to stop, not _ever_.

"Leon," Cloud whispered. "Look at me."

His eyes weren't really focusing at that moment, but Leon obeyed. Cloud was smiling at him, with a hint of amusement, yes, but mostly with love. He leaned down until their noses were just touching and murmured, "See? I told you it would be all right. And you know what?" He tilted his head slightly and let his nose fall past Leon's, bringing their lips closer together. "This indescribably wonderful feeling that you're experiencing right now? It's _exactly_ what you do to me." Gently, he brushed his lips against Leon's in a feather-light kiss.

Those soft, sultry words accompanied by the kiss and the image that they evoked, it was too much for Leon. His muscles had finished contracting almost before he realized they had started. As far as orgasms went, it was short, mediocre, and extremely embarrassing.

For several heartbeats, Cloud just blinked at him. Then, he started to laugh uncontrollably. He dropped his head onto Leon's shoulder and let loose, his whole body shaking with the force of his amusement. Leon attempted to melt into the mattress. His face was burning.

"You know," Cloud managed after a moment, "you weren't supposed to do that."

"I'm sorry, okay? Now shut up."

Cloud grinned at him, but it faded when he felt something on his neck. He lifted a hand to investigate and grimaced. "Ugh. Leon, you got my _hair_."

"I said I was sorry," Leon growled.

"But my _hair_ , Leon."

"Whatever. You're such a fucking girl."

Cloud snorted. "Says the one who seconds ago was moaning and writhing like a cheap slut."

"I was not!"

"Oh yes you were!" the blond laughed. He lifted himself off of the bed and stood up. "Come on," he said, offering a hand to Leon. "Let's go shower. We both need it."

Leon glared at him a moment more out of principle but finally accepted the hand and got out of bed. They wandered into the master bedroom's adjoining bathroom together. The shower was just a stall, not a bathtub, but it was large enough for two adults to get clean without bumping into each other too much.

"Is that where I get to hang my towel?" Leon asked, using a finger to tap the side of Cloud's still-prominent erection and making it sway back and forth a bit.

"Only if you want it to get wet," the blond replied as Leon slid open the shower door and stepped inside. "I'm coming in with you." He smiled broadly, and his eyes gleamed with a hint of hunger.

The expression was not lost on Leon. "You realize, don't you," he asked as Cloud stepped in behind him, "that while sex in the shower is one of the most clichéd romantic scenarios, it's actually pretty much impossible to accomplish it without drowning."

"Have you tried?" Cloud asked. He reached around Leon and pulled the knob out from the wall, causing cold water to splash down on Leon and make him yelp.

"Yes, I have," Leon answered once he had recovered. "More than once."

"With a man?"

"No, but I fail to see how that makes a difference."

"It doesn't, but I thought I'd ask anyway."

Leon rolled his eyes and reached for the soap only to find that Cloud had already taken it. Slicked hands began to glide over his back, and fingertips massaged his shoulder muscles gently. Leon sighed and dipped his head forward, letting the warm water flatten out his hair and run in rivulets down his neck and chest. Cloud obviously intended to keep the control in his own hands, and in this case, Leon was willing to give it up. This wasn't so much a question of dominance as it was a case of pampering, and, although Leon was a proud man, he wasn't so stubborn as to refuse the chance to be spoiled.

For several minutes, Cloud concentrated simply on washing Leon's body. His touches were so soft and gentle that Leon very nearly forgot the event that had brought them into the shower in the first place. But then, as Leon yawned and thought about how wonderful it would feel to sleep after getting clean, Cloud reached around him for the shampoo, momentarily bringing their bodies together. For a brief second, hard, heated flesh brushed up against Leon from behind. It was gone as quickly as it had come, but the moment woke Leon up completely. The memories flooded back into him, all thoughts of sleep banished in an instant.

While Cloud's hands worked the shampoo into Leon's hair, Leon's mind raced. Back in the bedroom, Cloud had clearly intended to go all the way and would have if Leon hadn't come early. Could Leon handle that? He still had enough straight-guy mentality in him to feel freaked out by the thought of someone's dick up his ass, but the point was that it wouldn't be just someone. It would be Cloud. Cloud, who until now had taken it up the ass without complaint. But tonight he wanted to do it differently. Leon owed it to him to at least try. And perhaps even more than try. After all, his fingers had felt _so_ good. Leon felt himself start to get hard at the thought.

Cloud's hands were now washing out the shampoo, and Leon once again felt unsettled by being in the submissive position. What was Cloud thinking? When they had stepped into the shower, the blond had looked like he wanted to eat Leon, but he hadn't made a single pass at him the entire time. Did he intend to try again once they were back in bed? Or had he given up for the night? Leon felt a twinge of unhappiness at that thought and realized that he didn't want Cloud to give up. He wanted to try again. Preferably now, in spite of his aversion to drowning. But how could he let his lover know without violating the rules that the other had set for the evening? Cloud hadn't said a word, and from that Leon had gathered that he wasn't supposed to either. So he needed to figure out a way to tell Cloud physically and yet still subtly that he wanted to be taken.

Cloud was reaching around him again, presumably to turn off the water. Before he could, however, Leon grabbed his hands and brought them to his chest so that Cloud was holding him. He pulled gently until the blond had to take a step forward to keep from falling, and their bodies lined up against each other. Leon again felt that hard flesh, this time pressing into him approximately where he wanted it to go, and a sudden shock of heat shot through him. Yes, he wanted this; now to let Cloud know. Keeping Cloud's arms in place with his hands, he pushed gently back against the blond's body, rocking his hips up just slightly. He smiled at the hiss that followed his action and the small return pressure from behind. And then Cloud's hands were moving and Leon let himself relax completely in the other's embrace.

The shower spray was angled so that the droplets bounced off of Leon's chest, but Cloud moved him ninety degrees so that they hit his left shoulder instead. He captured Leon's lips in a heated kiss, making sure to turn their faces enough so that neither one got splashed by the water, while his hand moved down to encourage Leon's half-hard arousal. The water added both heat and slickness to Cloud's hand, causing Leon to shiver and groan with delight into his lover's mouth. Before long, he was rocking his hips up, trying to convey his eagerness. Cloud turned him again so that they faced each other, and while they continued to kiss, he moved his hand around to Leon's back.

When he felt Cloud's finger enter him, Leon took the blond's lower lip into his mouth and sucked on it in an attempt to stay calm. He waited, trusting. A moment later, the pleasure shot through him, and he threw his head back, receiving a blast of water in the eyes for his trouble. Chuckling softly, Cloud wiped away the water with his free hand and guided Leon's head to his shoulder. Leon wrapped his arms around Cloud's torso and held on tight, riding wave after wave of ecstasy that made it damn near impossible to stand.

Just when he began to feel afraid that he was going to come early _again_ , Cloud pulled his fingers out, and Leon suddenly felt terribly empty. A sound that was dangerously close to a whimper rose from his throat. He lifted his eyes to Cloud to find the blond fiddling with the shower head. Then, he was moving Leon again, turning him all the way around and pushing him up against the wall. He guided Leon's left arm to lie against the tile and support his head, while the right arm he let fall free. Once he had positioned Leon to his liking, he stepped back, leaving Leon now to feel cold as well as empty, but the coldness was washed away as Cloud repositioned the shower head once more, this time to flow directly onto Leon's back. Leon stood there for a moment, enjoying the warmth, but then he felt something entering him again, something much thicker than fingers could ever be.

And _now_ it hurt. Instinctively, he tried to pull away, but Cloud's hands were on his hips, keeping him in place. Breathing harshly through his teeth, he tried to relax, but he couldn't help curling his hands into fists and squeezing his eyes shut. Cloud's right hand lifted to run soothingly down Leon's arm. He shushed Leon gently and then took his hand and guided it around to Leon's front. As his fingers closed around his erection, guided by Cloud's hand, Leon realized that his lover had just put himself directly underneath the stream of water so that he could help Leon get through this. He redoubled his efforts to relax, stroking himself slowly and forcibly keeping his breathing steady and even. After a moment, Cloud pulled back, sputtering a bit as he pushed soaking hair out of his face. And then he began to rock, pushing in a little more on each movement, just as Leon had done.

Gradually, the pain began to fade, and before he knew it, Leon was panting not from pain, but from pleasure. Cloud was giving him a rhythm, and even though he wasn't the one directing it, Leon was being swept away by it. He could hear Cloud's gasps over the sound of the running water; they were different somehow, deeper, more in control. They gave Leon the courage to let himself go completely and cry out exactly the way his body wanted to, without embarrassment or restraint. He suddenly understood why Cloud never called his name. He could barely keep enough of his mind together to remember his own name, much less the one of the man loving him.

An abrupt pause in the rhythm made Leon groan in disappointment, but it soon started up again. And now Cloud was pressed up against his back with the water aimed so that it hit the back of the blond's shoulders. He buried his face in Leon's neck as he continued his rocking thrusts, and Leon turned his own face to rest against Cloud's wet hair, breathing in steam and the smell of shampoo with every shaky inhalation. Cloud's hand came around to detach Leon's from his erection and took hold of it instead, stroking in time with his rhythm which was steadily getting faster. Leon flattened his free hand against the wall, wishing desperately that he could push his fingers through the cold tile just so that he could have something to hold onto.

His orgasm hit him without warning, and it hit him hard. Suddenly his muscles were seizing up and his knees were threatening to give out as fireballs of pleasure burst throughout his body in rapid succession. He arched up and threw his head back, running the risk of a mouthful of water, but thankfully, the spray missed his face. Behind him, Cloud groaned, peaking as well, and pushed deep inside Leon only to freeze there for several heartbeats. Leon willed the ecstasy to go on for as long as he could, but eventually it faded away and he stood with his forehead pressed against the cold tile, panting heavily. He honestly wondered why he hadn't collapsed to the floor yet.

After a moment, Cloud pulled out and aimed the water to flow down Leon's back. His hands gently cleaned as best they could while Leon just concentrated on breathing again. Eventually, the water ceased, and Leon felt Cloud's warm body embrace him.

"You okay?"

"Yeah."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Think you can make it to bed without falling?"

Leon snorted. He had heard the smirk in his lover's voice. "You offering to carry me?"

"Sure. If you want."

"Yeah, no thanks." He leaned back more comfortably in Cloud's arms and remarked, "You know, now I won't be able to watch _Star Wars_ without getting a massive hard-on."

Cloud laughed and replied, "It's a good thing then that I'll be around to help you with it."

"Yeah." Leon laced his fingers with the set that lay over his heart. "You will, won't you?"

"Of course I will."

"Good." He shut his eyes and sighed, relishing the warmth of Cloud's body even as his own began to cool in the now steam-free air. His heart beat against Cloud's palm, and Leon knew that that was exactly where it now was and where it belonged. Safely in Cloud's hand.

"I don't want anyone else."


	16. A Picture and a Thousand Words

Three tubes the size of glue sticks sat side by side on the kitchen table, their metal casings glistening slightly in the rays of sun that had entered through the window. From one of the chairs, a set of blue eyes stared at them as if they contained all the answers to the universe and would give them up if only you could find the key. All around the room, seven pairs of eyes of differing colors and shapes watched the owner of the first pair, as if waiting patiently for the information that those little tubes held.

"Come on, Cloud," Leon urged gently after several moments of complete silence. He massaged his lover's shoulders a bit in encouragement. "You have to make a decision."

"I know I do," Cloud replied with a hint of a whine. He dropped his chin even further into his folded hands until only his searching, pleading eyes were visible.

"Look, Cloud," Zack said, leaning forward in his chair to smile at his friend, "I know you don't want to kill anyone, but if you don't use them, it's going to be much harder on us. And while Seph may not actually kill me, Reno, or Riku, you'd better believe he won't hesitate to skewer Leon and Sora."

Cloud winced. His hands abandoned their task of hiding his face to rise up and cover Leon's protectively. "You're right," he sighed. "And if I'm going to trust someone with their lives, I could do much worse than Zexion." He chewed on his lip a moment more before announcing, "Fine. We'll use them. But I want Zack, Reno, and Riku to have them." His eyes lifted to each of them in turn as he instructed, "After you use them, I want you to monitor their progress until you're absolutely sure they aren't going to react the way Riku did."

"So basically," Reno said with a scowl, "you want us, in the middle of a battle for our lives, to stop fighting and play nurse."

"That's right," Cloud replied evenly. "Or we don't use them at all."

"Shit, why don't I slit my throat now and get it over with?"

"No," Zack interrupted, "I think it will be fine. After all, we'll have double coverage on Sephiroth and Kadaj, the more dangerous ones. Once either Loz or Yazoo go down, we should have no problem."

"It's settled then," Riku said. He reached out, took a tube, and stored it in a pocket. As Zack and Reno did the same, he continued, "I'll take Loz, Sora will help Zack with Kadaj --"

"And I get Yazoo," Reno finished with an evil grin, tossing the tube up and catching it before putting it away.

Zack rolled his eyes at him. "Yes, Reno, we all know how much you hate poor Yaz. Although you have to admit, you're acting rather childish."

"I am not acting childish!" the other replied hotly. "This is revenge."

"You know, not every woman in the entire universe is going to pick you."

"She fucking would have if pretty boy hadn't stolen her away."

"That would be the 'not going to pick you' part."

As Zack and Reno continued to bicker about some girl and the way she had insulted the red-head by not agreeing to sleep with him, Riku turned to Cloud and continued the important conversation. "So now all that's left is to watch the path and wait, right?"

"Pretty much," Cloud answered. The empty tone of his voice surprised Leon. He squeezed his fingers gently on Cloud's shoulders but did not receive a gesture in return.

"I'll take the first watch if you want," Riku was offering. He had taken out his PHS and waved it slightly to indicate his meaning.

Cloud, however, shook his head and stood up from the table, shaking off Leon's hands in the process. "No, I'll do it," he told Riku and pulled out his own PHS. Flipping it on, he added, "I'll be in the living room," and walked away, his head down and his face hidden. Leon watched him go, concerned. Cloud had been so happy that morning, smiling and laughing and filling everyone with his warmth. But then Zack had demanded a strategy meeting, and Cloud's joy had just died. Leon wanted to stop him as he passed by, talk to him, comfort him and bring that smile back to life, but with the others there, he felt that such actions would only embarrass them both. So he let Cloud go.

No one else seemed to have noticed that anything was wrong. As Riku put his PHS away, Sora slung an arm around his shoulders and suggested, "Hey Riku, let's go out back and practice."

"Sure," Riku replied with a smile. Turning away from the table, he advised, "Give it up, Reno. Beating up Yazoo isn't going to change the fact that Jess picked him over you."

"Yeah," Reno answered, "but it sure will feel good." He crossed his arms over his chest and muttered to himself, "See how she likes him after I smash that pretty little nose in." Zack threw his hands up in the air in mock-defeat while Riku just laughed and followed Sora out of the kitchen, Kairi tailing after them.

Leon sighed and started toward the sink to do some dishes when a small voice stopped him. "Excuse me, Leon?" He looked over to find Naminé smiling at him shyly. The little blonde had been so quiet during the strategy session that he had forgotten she was even present. When she saw she had his attention, she asked, "Do you have some blank paper I could use? And maybe some colored pencils? I like to sketch," she explained, "and I haven't had the opportunity to in a while."

Leon returned her smile. He realized as he looked at her that he had barely spoken to her since she had arrived. He had been so busy with taking care of everyone, and Zack and Reno tended to direct all the attention in a room to themselves. But even though he had spent almost no time with her, Leon knew that he liked Naminé. There was something gentle and sweet and yet still strong about her. He could easily see how Riku, even while brainwashed, could have fallen for her so completely.

"I don't think I have any colored pencils," he replied to her question, "but you're welcome to my paper and my regular pencils and pens for now." He turned towards the living room and motioned for her to follow him.

"Thank you."

Cloud looked up briefly from the couch as they entered but quickly went back to watching his PHS screen. Leon had caught his expression though, and that small glimpse instantly tied his stomach into uneasy knots. His lover's face had been so blank and empty. Much like it had been all those weeks ago when Cloud had first arrived. Before they had shared their pain with each other and fallen in love. Leon didn't think he'd ever have to see that expression again, and yet here it was. Haunting them both once more.

Pulling himself from his worry, Leon returned to his current task. He fetched some computer paper from his printer and then pulled out a drawer in the desk to get a decent lead pencil and an almost-new pink eraser. Once he had found all the supplies he could offer, he deposited them into Naminé's small hands.

"Thank you," she said again.

"It's not a problem," he assured her. "I'm just sorry I don't have anything better. Next time I go out, I'll pick up a set of colored pencils and an actual sketchpad for you."

At his suggestion, Naminé's smile turned sad, and she clutched the paper to her chest. "Everyone here is so kind," she whispered with downcast eyes. "I … I can't believe it's real."

Her words and expression hit Leon hard, and he exhaled slowly through his nose to dispel the feeling. First Cloud, then Riku, and now Naminé. They had all been victimized and abused. Why did it seem like the majority of the Skywalkers were monsters? Did people lose all sense of morality and compassion when they received the transformation? Was it the traditional corrupting influence of power or something far more sinister?

Almost as if she had read his mind -- and considering her powers, perhaps she had -- Naminé shrugged slightly and commented, "Marluxia was never cruel to me, but I don't think he saw me as an actual person. He was always very careful to make sure I wasn't in too much physical pain, but as for emotional pain …" She didn't finish her sentence, but Leon saw the end of it in her sorrowful eyes. After a moment, she gestured with the papers in her hands and added, "That's why I started sketching. I needed a way to deal with the feelings inside me." Her eyes lifted to his, and she smiled. "Actually, Leon, may I sketch you?"

"Me?" he echoed, surprised.

"Yes. If you don't mind."

Her clear eyes radiated uncertainty, so he quickly assured her, "I don't mind. Did you want to do it right now?"

"Yes, please."

"All right." After a moment of thought, he offered her his desk chair and then quickly ducked into the kitchen for a chair for himself. Once they were both settled and Naminé had begun sketching, Leon did his best to keep his body as still as possible. He had never been drawn before, but he knew enough to do that. His eyes, however, wandered. Not surprisingly, they quickly found and remained on Cloud. The blond had barely moved, that terrible expression still on his face.

_"Leon."_

Leon blinked and looked over at Naminé. Her eyes were on the sheet of paper, her fingers guiding the pencil along its surface. He had thought he had heard her speak his name, but it seemed that he had imagined it. Shrugging to himself, he began to move his gaze away when she lifted her eyes and looked directly at him.

_"Leon."_

He jumped and pressed backwards in his chair in spite of himself. There was no way he had imagined that one. She had spoken his name, but her lips had not moved. And her voice had sounded a bit muted and distorted, as if she was sending her voice --

 _"-- directly into your mind, yes."_ She smiled a little at his stunned expression.

_What? But I thought telepaths could read thoughts, not send them._

_"There's not much difference between the two in the way of mechanics,"_ she replied, continuing to sketch as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening. _"And it's very handy when you want to talk secretly with someone."_

Leon took a slow breath and let it out. Honestly, so many strange things had been happening to him lately, what was one more? _So, you wanted to talk to me in secret?_

_"Yes. About Cloud."_

His eyes strayed once again to his blond lover, and his stomach tied a few more knots. _What about him?_

Naminé mentally sighed -- quite possibly the strangest sound he had ever heard. _"I never really got the chance to talk to Cloud before I came here, but I saw him several times in passing. His thoughts were always chaotic, full of pain and fear and misery. Even with my own daily sorrows, I always felt sorry for him and prayed that someone would end his suffering. When I woke up here in his arms, he was a different person. If not for my eyes, I wouldn't have believed it was him. His mind is so clear now, so calm and content. And that, Leon, is entirely thanks to you."_

Leon felt his cheeks begin to redden at her praise, but he knew he was not the only one who deserved it. _Cloud did his own share of putting an end to suffering. When he arrived here, I was still grieving my wife even though it had been five years._

_"Is she the pretty black-haired woman in your thoughts?"_

_Yes._

_"She's in Cloud's thoughts sometimes, too, although always two-dimensional and stationary, like he knows her through pictures only. I see. And you were still upset from her death when Cloud got here?"_

_Yes. He helped me to be happy for the first time in years._

_"So you saved each other. How sweet!"_ She giggled a little out loud, causing her pencil to slip. As she put it down and reached for the eraser, she continued, _"I'm very happy for both of you. I'm sure you know this, but Cloud loves you deeply. And I know you feel the same way."_

Leon smiled a little and teased, _Oh, yeah? And how do you know that?_

Naminé laughed lightly inside their heads. _"Oh, I have a sort of sixth sense about these things."_ She lifted her eyes to him and winked, making Leon chuckle to himself. But then her expression sobered, and she told him, _"He's very upset right now, Leon. I felt your worry for him in the kitchen, so I wanted to let you know. His thoughts … well, they're nowhere near what they were before, but they're very muddled at the moment. Full of fear and worry and regret."_

 _Regret?_ Leon felt his heart clench. What was Cloud regretting? Surely not the fact that he had come here and fallen in love with Leon. Right?

_"You understand, don't you, Leon? That when you love someone, you'd do anything to keep him safe. Even to the point of wishing you'd never met him."_

Leon swallowed with difficulty. _And that's what Cloud is thinking right now? That it would be better if he hadn't come here?_

Naminé sighed and paused in her sketching to stretch her fingers a bit. _"It's one of the things that is haunting him,"_ she replied. _"This upcoming battle, even with six of you and the three programs from Roxas, it's worrying him greatly, and the pessimism is consuming him. He keeps envisioning you dead in front of him as Sephiroth drags him away. He's trying his best not to think of it, but … well, you know what he's like."_

 _Yes, I do._ Leon's gaze shifted to Cloud once more. Blue eyes stared intently at the PHS screen, flicking back and forth a bit as they read the data. Thin eyebrows had pulled down, creating small creases in an otherwise smooth forehead. The lips that Leon had kissed just that morning were set in a hard line. Someone else might have taken all this in and seen only intense concentration on the task at hand, but thanks to Naminé, Leon knew what lay behind that closed face. He knew, and it hurt.

 _"You should comfort him,"_ she advised. _"Talk to him and make him feel better."_

_But what do I say to him? I can't promise that everything will be all right. Or at least, if I do, he won't believe me. Even with six of us and the programs, there are no guarantees._

Naminé thought a moment before replying, _"Tell him that you love him. I know he knows it, but sometimes we still need to hear things we already know."_

_I don't think a simple "I love you, Cloud" is going to solve everything._

_"No, but it will be a start. As for the rest, just be with him. Ease his worries with your presence. That's what I would do if it were me."_

Leon sighed and leaned back a little. _All right, I'll try. Just as soon as you're done with your picture._

"I'm done."

The actual sound of her voice made Leon jump. She was smiling at him and holding out the sheet of paper. Still disconcerted from the lingering effects of having a conversation in his head, Leon reached out and took it from her.

He was surprised to find that she drew like a child. Usually artists her age strove for some sort of realism, but Naminé had not even tried. Her lines were sloppy, her faces little more than eyes and mouths, and yet something brought a kind of life to the drawing. Leon wasn't sure if it was her use of shading or the details that were in fact there if he looked for them, but something was giving her simple pencil drawing an aura of pulse and breath that he had never seen, even in the works of masters.

More surprising, however, was what she had chosen to depict. Leon had expected a simple portrait, but Naminé had done far more than that. She had dressed Leon in some kind of fur-lined jacket and given him a necklace that looked like a type of lion. The Gunblade was there next to him, and on his other side was Cloud. Even considering her simplistic artistic style and the lack of colors, Leon could tell who it was. Naminé had dressed him differently as well, an outfit similar to the one in which he had arrived, and given him an earring. First Tsurugi stood, hilt-up, at his side. The two men stood back to back, flanked on either side by their blades, and there, on the ground between and in front of them, sat a smiling black-haired woman. Leon and Cloud each had a hand on her shoulder, and she covered them with hers, her head tilted slightly toward Cloud's side. Her smile was the sweetest thing that Leon had ever seen.

He just stared.

"You like it?" Naminé asked after several minutes of silence.

Her voice jolted Leon out of his daze. Blinking, he raised his eyes to her and answered, "Yes. Very much."

"Then you should keep it." She meticulously began lining up the papers she had left in preparation to move them. "I think I'll go sketch Sora and Riku next, if they're still sparring. And I should definitely get one of Zack and Reno before they leave." She lifted everything into her arms and, rising to her feet, gave him a final smile. "Thank you again, Leon."

"You're welcome," he murmured as she turned away. Before she could leave, however, he stopped her. "Naminé?"

"Yes?" she asked, turning around.

"Thank you." _For the picture. For your advice. For everything … for caring._

She smiled. "You're welcome." _"I don't know why, but I've always felt very close to Cloud. Like our sufferings made us connected. I want him to be happy."_

 _He will be. I'll make sure of it. And so will you. We'll make it happen. Sora, Kairi, and I._ He paused before adding, _And Riku._

A delicate flush spread across her cheeks, and she turned away without answering. Leon watched her go with a smile. Perhaps the young man had a chance after all. And then the six of them could settle down together somewhere and have houses with white picket fences and buckets of kids and dogs and all that American dream stuff. He grinned at himself. Somehow he didn't think the American dream involved a gay couple, a dimension-hopper, and a telepath. Sora would be the normal one in that scenario. Now _that_ was scary.

Carefully, he placed Naminé's drawing on his desk -- he would have to get it framed at some point -- and then walked over to the couch. Cloud ignored him as he sat down and threw an arm around the blond's shoulders. Those blue eyes continued to stare at the screen in front of him while his fingers occasionally pressed buttons to change the view. Leon watched in silence for a few moments, his head tilted towards Cloud's so that he could see better.

"You know," he finally remarked, "if you taught me how to use that, I could take a turn too."

Cloud shook his head and finally spoke. "Riku, Zack, Reno, and I will be enough."

Leon watched him a little while longer, watched the empty eyes and the closed expression. Finally, he ordered, "Cloud, look at me."

The other man shook his head again. "Can't," he replied shortly. "Too busy."

Sighing, Leon leaned a bit closer. "It takes twenty minutes for someone to get from here to here, right?" he asked, using two fingers to denote spots on the screen. "Right now, there's no one there. You can spare me twenty seconds to look at me."

Cloud's shoulders slumped slightly in defeat. His eyes lowered from the screen but did not rise to meet Leon's. Leon waited for ten seconds before reaching out and turning that stubborn gaze to him by grabbing onto Cloud's chin and pulling. When their eyes finally met, he was surprised to see defensiveness in those blue depths. A bit of angry fear.

Leon inhaled slowly and let it back out before saying, "I love you, Cloud."

"I know that," Cloud snapped at him.

"No you don't," he replied calmly. "Listen to me. Hear me. I love you. And that means I wouldn't give you up for anything. Not _anything_ , Cloud." Blue eyes began to lower, but Leon shook the chin he still held a little to bring them back up. "No, look at me. I don't regret our time together, and neither should you. If being with you means I've shortened my life, that's fine. I would rather have had this time with you than live another fifty years alone with my grief." His tone softened as he saw the beginnings of tears in the eyes across from him. Smiling, he said again, "I love you, Cloud."

"Leon …"

Suddenly, Cloud slapped Leon's hand away from his face, but instead of pulling away, he threw himself into Leon's arms and buried his face in Leon's neck. Recovering quickly, Leon circled his arms around his lover and rested his cheek against soft blond hair. Cloud's arms gripped him like a lifeline, but he didn't seem to be crying. Leon shifted his grip so that he could hold the other more tightly and then, very softly, pressed a few kisses to the top of his head.

"How did you know?" Cloud asked against his neck a few moments later. "How did you know exactly what I needed to hear? It's like you read my --" He trailed off for a heartbeat and then began to laugh quietly. "Nami," he whispered.

"Nami," Leon confirmed. "But that doesn't mean I didn't mean it. I do. Every word."

"I know you do," Cloud told him. He lifted his head and pulled back a bit, wiping away the single tear that had managed to escape his eyes. Leon took hold of his hand as it fell away from his face and brought it to his lips. He kissed the wetness off of Cloud's fingertips, tasting a hint of salt as he did so.

They sat together for a while in comfortable quiet, Cloud occasionally glancing at the PHS he still held. Leon looked at it every so often as well, but he was more interested in running his fingers through Cloud's hair and enjoying the warmth of his lover's body against his chest. Eventually, however, his mind began to wander, and as it touched on various subjects, most involving Cloud in some way, he thought of something else he could do to distract the blond from the coming battle. Something they could do with their clothes still on.

"Come here a minute," he ordered abruptly, standing up and bringing the other man with him. Cloud blinked in surprise but obeyed, following Leon over to his desk and the computer that sat on it. "Sit," Leon said, indicating the desk chair. While Cloud did as told, Leon booted up his machine and clicked around to open a particular document.

"What is it?" Cloud finally asked. His confusion showed plainly on his face.

"My new project," Leon answered with a smile. "I'd like you to read it. Just don't tell Sora." He stepped back and gave Cloud a clear view of the monitor.

"Really?" Cloud asked, looking up at him in surprise. "I thought you said you didn't want anyone to see it until it was finished."

Leon grinned at him. "Like I said, don't tell Sora." He pointed eagerly at the screen. "Now read."

Smiling, Cloud obeyed. As his eyes roamed over the lines of text, Leon watched his face carefully. It took everything he had not to laugh out loud when, a few minutes later, the blond's eyes widened in realization and shock.

"Leon," Cloud said slowly and carefully. "This is me."

"That's right."

"You made me a girl."

Leon shrugged, the smile on his face so wide that it nearly hurt. "Well, it was that or take out our love story, and I didn't want to do that. Besides, strong female leads are very marketable."

Cloud sat there for several seconds, just staring. Then, he burst into laughter. "I don't believe you! You're writing a book about us?"

"Well, mostly about you," Leon replied. He leaned over Cloud's shoulder and used the mouse to scroll down farther in the document. Highlighting bits of text as he went, he explained, "I'm taking out the abuse, of course, and you get to keep the other wing. That way the two of us can jump around to various dimensions and have lots of adventures, all while trying to escape the evil villain chasing you. Then, at the end, we'll have a big blowout battle and live happily ever after." He paused a moment to think before adding, "I may have to break it up into several books to get in all the great stuff you told me about other dimensions."

Cloud was watching him with sparkling eyes and that smile that Leon adored. "You're something else," he informed him.

"Thank you. Must be why you love me."

"Must be," Cloud murmured in reply. He lifted a hand and captured Leon's face with it. "Because I do," he continued, bringing their lips closer together. "I love you so much." His kiss was soft and gentle, and Leon could feel his heart reaching out to Cloud's as their tongues intertwined. But it lasted only a minute or so, for Cloud pulled away and gave Leon a small shove. "Enough of that," he announced brightly. "I want to finish reading."

"Damn tease," Leon scolded. He cracked Cloud lightly upside the head before stepping back again. The blond just laughed at him and repositioned the document to be where he had stopped reading. After a few minutes of just watching, Leon began to feel bored and picked up the discarded PHS as a means of distraction. It took him several seconds to register what he was seeing.

"Cloud?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you leave this thing focused on our fold?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Then you need to look at this." He held out the PHS, a dark weight settling heavily in his stomach.

Cloud took the machine with a raised eyebrow, but a single glance brought comprehension crashing into his face. A flashing dot hovered over the one that designated their fold. "How … ?" His eyes shot to the clock on the wall, then back again to the screen. "Where did he come from?"

"I don't know," Leon answered as if Cloud had actually directed his question at him. "But there's only one. And he's just sitting there."

"He's checking for prints," Cloud said dully. "That must be it. And by now the sheer number of them on this spot will look very suspicious." He lifted suddenly tired eyes to Leon and remarked, "Guess this is it."

"Guess so." He lowered his gaze to the screen again. The dot had vanished. "Wait! Where did he go?"

Cloud looked down, jumped slightly, and began pushing buttons. The screen shifted, and the flashing dot appeared at a neighboring fold. As they watched, it flickered out of existence and reappeared half a second later at another fold down the path.

"That's … that's not possible!"

Leon refrained from saying that everything that had happened to him over the past month or so would normally be deemed impossible. Instead, he commented, "Well, now we know how he showed up without our seeing him first."

"I guess," Cloud conceded. "It must be one of the brothers and one of Seph's homemade programs."

Gently, Leon pried the PHS out of Cloud's fingers. Once he had succeeded, he lifted the blond's chin and kissed him deeply. Cloud returned it, clutching onto Leon's shirt with anxiety. When they had pulled apart again, Leon said, "Come on. We need to tell everyone else."

Cloud nodded and rose from the chair. He linked his hand with Leon's, shared a long, determined gaze with him, and then began walking to the kitchen and the door that led to the backyard. Leon walked alongside him, holding onto the hand of the man he loved, and cleared out his mind of all thought.

The fight for Cloud's freedom had finally arrived.


	17. The Storm Breaks

"Confirmed," Zack's voice announced. "Four walkers coming in this direction. They just passed the last available fold before this one. Estimated time: eight minutes."

Sora turned to his girlfriend. "Time to get in the house, Kairi."

"I don't see why I can't just stand here on the step and watch."

" _Now_ , Kairi!"

Riku stretched his arms above his head; his wings mirrored the action by pulling completely taut and quivering just slightly. Once he had relaxed again, he asked casually, "So we're all just going to be standing here when they show up?"

"Why not?" Reno asked back, tapping his shoulder rhythmically with his EMR. "I'd rather just jump them, though. Don't see why Spike wants to talk first."

"Because," Cloud snapped irritably, pausing in his task of reassembling First Tsurugi. "Maybe when he sees how many of us are here and ready to fight, Seph will give up on me and leave me alone."

Lifting his eyes from the PHS, Zack laughed and slapped Cloud on the shoulder. "Sure, Spike. And maybe Reno will settle down with a nice girl and have a bunch of kids."

While the three winged Skywalkers laughed uproariously at that comment and Cloud ignored them, Leon let his gaze roam over his house. Had there really been a time when he was the only one who resided in it? When the halls were silent? When only one set of dishes sat in the sink waiting to be cleaned? When he had no one but himself and his memories to keep him company? Those days seemed so long ago and almost as if they had all been a kind of lonely dream.

A small glimpse of gold suddenly drew his eye.

"Kairi," he called to the girl who was still arguing with Sora, "will you please tell Naminé to get away from the windows?"

Kairi's hand flew to her mouth, and she quickly turned on her heel and sprinted inside. Leon smirked to himself. He had known that, while the girl seemed to have no concern for her own safety, she would immediately react if someone else's were threatened. He would have to thank Naminé for providing the distraction.

"Thanks, Squall," Sora smiled as he came up to him. A kind of tired relief radiated from his eyes.

"No problem," Leon replied. "Now let's just hope she stays there."

His little brother did not comment and instead twirled Oathkeeper a few times as he wandered over to Riku. Leon still thought it was a strange-looking sword, but in Sora's hands, it seemed to fit. And when he and Riku sparred, it looked fantastic, flashing through the air and connecting with the other young man's dark blade. The two of them had so much agility; they seemed to dance rather than fight.

"Five minutes."

Cloud stood and hefted his sword over his shoulder. Raising his voice to be heard over the others' chatter, he announced, "I want everyone to try their hardest not to mortally wound any of the brothers." His eyes lowered to the ground as he added, "It's not their fault. They don't deserve to die for it."

After a small, silent moment, Zack remarked, "Leon and Sora don't deserve to die either, Cloud."

Pure blue eyes met purple-blue and spoke deeply in their own language. Leon watched the exchange with a hint of jealousy. Someday he would have Cloud tell him the rest of his story. Those two obviously had so much history. Leon didn't necessary want to intrude upon it, but he wanted to hear about it. Someday.

"Just try, please," Cloud said eventually. His voice held the heaviness of the knowledge of just what he was asking.

A glimmer of Zack's familiar smile crept into his face. "Okay," he replied gently. "We will." His eyes dropped to the PHS, and he stated, "Three minutes."

"Are we all going to stand in a clump or what?" Sora asked. "Wouldn't it be more threatening to spread out into a line or something with Cloud in the middle?"

Riku laughed at him and messed up his hair. "Are you _staging_ this fight for us, Sora? Is my makeup all right? Does my costume clash with the scenery?"

"Shut _up!_ " Sora batted at the hands that were attacking his hair. "I just thought it would be more intimidating, that's all."

"Sora has a point," Cloud stated to everyone's surprise. He lifted his head and squared his shoulders. "Everyone spread out and get your weapons ready." But when Leon went to move away, Cloud's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. "Not you," the blond half-whispered. "You stay with me."

"One minute," Zack announced a few seconds later.

"And that's enough of that," Cloud ordered, not bothering to look around at him. "You're estimating, for Shiva's sake. I don't want you giving us a ten second countdown only to have them show up on negative five. Or worse, two."

"Yes, sir," Zack replied dutifully.

A moment later, Leon heard Reno whisper, "Spike's being damn hard-nosed, huh?"

"Sure he is," Zack whispered back. "He's fighting for his future after all."

"Oh, is that why we're here? I was wondering."

Sora and Riku started snickering, although they both tried to hide it. Leon just smiled. For once, he was grateful for Reno's sarcastic banter. It had eased away some of the tension surrounding them. Even Cloud's shoulders had relaxed and the grip he held on Leon's wrist had loosened. Carefully, Leon pulled his arm upwards, guiding his hand through that grip until their fingers caught each other and intertwined. Cloud's gaze remained fixed to the space in front of him with hard determination, but the corner of his mouth lifted in a small smile. Leon looked at it for a heartbeat and then turned his head so that he too watched the nothingness before them in anticipation of it being filled.

They stood like that for another twenty-seven silent seconds.

_CRACK! - ACK! - K! - RACK!_

Leon narrowed his eyes at the intensity of the light of four jumps being executed at the same time. And then, the light faded and four near-identical strangers stood on his lawn. They weren't exactly the same -- they had different lengths of hair, body types, weapons --- but they all had silver hair, green eyes, white wings, and this aura of madness and danger about them. Even so, Leon knew immediately which one was Sephiroth. Not because he was the tallest or because he had the longest hair and sword. No, it was because raw power simply oozed from the man. If Leon weren't so furious at him, he'd probably be standing there with his mouth open in awe.

Slowly, Leon realized he was still holding Cloud's hand. Sephiroth had noticed as well. His eyes narrowed and slowly, smoothly, shifted to Leon. That stare was tangible. Leon could feel it trying to drill a hole straight through him. He stood his ground; he would not show weakness to this man. Zack and Reno seemed to think that there was no way they could talk their way out of this, but perhaps, if Leon showed just how strongly he meant to stay by Cloud, just perhaps Sephiroth would back off.

That hope was dashed, however, when one of the brothers began to laugh. There wasn't a shred of sanity or rationality in that sound.

"Well _hello_ , little brother," he called to Riku, his voice slick and sweet. "What a _surprise_ to find you here."

"Fuck off, Kadaj," Riku replied easily.

Kadaj tutted at him. He seemed to have a wild smile permanently plastered to his pretty face. "You were right, Yazoo," he said to the man beside him, an older version of Riku but thinner and with longer hair. Yazoo shrugged half-heartedly at Kadaj's comment, as if not understanding why he would ever not be right.

"Yeah," the third one -- Loz by default -- cut in. "And here I was thinking that little Riku would never betray us." He cracked his knuckles a bit in front of his muscular chest.

"Betray?" Kadaj echoed airily. "He didn't betray anyone. Look at his wings. He's _polluted_." He shook his head slowly back and forth, making his short hair swish over his shoulders. "Poor, poor Riku. Lost to us forever."

"Save your pity for yourself, you freak," Riku snarled at him. "If you stick around here much longer, you're going to need it."

Yazoo shifted his stance slightly and finally spoke. His voice was soft, bored; it matched his eyes. "We're not leaving without Cloud."

"I'm not going."

Cloud's soft, strong words cut through the thick air surrounding them and forced all of the focus on that lawn directly to him. He had not moved his eyes from Sephiroth's face since the tall man had arrived. Leon was surprised and proud to see that his lover's expression held not a shred of fear within it. This was not the victimized man who had wanted to kill himself and who had fallen into hysterics at the threat of discovery. This was not even the man steeped in worry and regret whom Leon had comforted just earlier that day. Standing there with Sephiroth's heavy gaze upon him, Cloud was defiance and determination; fear could not touch him.

"You understand, don't you, Seph?" he asked calmly. "It's over. Go home now and no one has to get hurt." Kadaj giggled at that, but Cloud sent him a look that shocked that ever-present grin right off of his face. Returning his eyes to Sephiroth, he continued, "I've found where I want to be, and I'm staying. There's nothing you can do or say to change it. Let me go."

Sephiroth's expression had barely changed the entire time. In fact, Leon realized, only his eyes had moved, back and forth between him and Cloud. Now, as Cloud finished speaking, he turned in place. Leon watched the smooth movement, feeling the fear that Cloud did not. The three brothers watched him as well, their expressions hungry and almost begging. Leon felt a pang of disgust mixed with pity as he looked at them. They really did live for his approval, like starved but loyal dogs.

When Sephiroth had his back to them, he turned his head to look over his shoulder. That sharp profile looked utterly indifferent and uncaring, as if none of them were worth even a second of his time.

"Kill them," he said.

"All of them?" Loz asked. He lifted his hand and engaged his pile bunker, the hand-hold flipping up so that he could grasp it.

"Yes."

"Even Riku?" Zack cried, astonished.

"Fuck that!" Reno shouted. "Even _us?_ "

"Reno, if you jump right now, I swear to all the gods that I will find you and slit your throat!"

"What the fuck do you take me for? I said I'd stand by Spike, and I will!"

Cloud squeezed Leon's fingers gently and then let go. They each took hold of their swords with both hands. In front of them, Yazoo had pulled out a pair of guns and appeared to be inspecting them, still bored, and Kadaj was twirling his double-bladed sword in his hand, his grin back in place. And Loz … was gone.

One moment, he had been standing there. The next, Leon saw a man-shaped flash of blue light and heard a high-pitched scream from somewhere behind him.

"Kairi!" Sora shouted.

Ignoring the stupidity of turning his back on the enemy, Leon whirled around. His stomach dropped. Kairi stood by the side of the house, terrified. The points of the pile bunker pressed against her throat. Leon realized that she must have come out the back door and around to the front, intending to watch by peeking around the side of the house. But Loz had seen her and attacked.

"Can I kill this one, too?" he asked, grinning.

"Of course," Sephiroth answered with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"No!" Sora screamed. " _Kairi!_ "

Loz laughed at him. "What's the matter? She's just going first, that's all." He raised the hand that had been around Kairi's arm and pointed at Sora. "I promise I'll come kill you next."

And then, in an instant, Kairi's expression changed. The fear disappeared, and her eyes flashed with anger and resolve. Her right hand struck towards Loz's leg. Loz cried out in surprise and pain, but before he could react, Kairi's elbow met his stomach hard and her hand flew up to crack him on the chin. With her attacker now completely confused, she escaped from his grip and ran towards the front door. Leon saw, to his utter shock, one of his kitchen knives sticking out of Loz's thigh. She had hidden it up her sleeve before coming outside.

It had all happened so fast that none of the men had moved, but now Riku cried, "Kairi!" and threw something through the air. She reached out and snagged it just as Loz caught up to her.

"You little bitch!" he snarled, seizing her around the arm and jerking her towards him.

Kairi just smiled and grabbed onto the arm that held her. "It was nice meeting you," she said sweetly. "Good-bye." Her other hand came down, and Leon realized what it was that Riku had thrown her.

The anti-brother program.

Green light exploded all around Loz, knocking Kairi backwards onto the ground. The big man stood still in the middle of it with his head thrown back, much as Riku's had been, but he did not scream. Instead his face looked almost peaceful as the tornado roared around him, tossing his white wings back and forth. And then, they exploded, leaving two black wings behind.

" _No!_ " Kadaj screamed, surprising them all. "Loz!" He lunged at Kairi, murder in his eyes, but Sora jumped in front of him and locked their blades together.

"You stay away from her!" he cried. " _I'm_ your opponent."

" _Fine!_ " Kadaj screeched. He pulled back briefly and sliced at Sora who flipped out of the way. Zack quickly joined them, and the three began to fight in earnest as Kairi retreated to the front step.

"Riku!" Cloud ordered, pointing at Loz's unconscious figure.

"I'm on it!"

"And that leaves you and me, pretty boy," Reno drawled. Tapping the EMR against his shoulder again, he swaggered up to Yazoo who had not moved.

One delicate eyebrow lifted in surprised amusement. "You plan to fight me by yourself?"

"You bet. We've got a score to settle, you and I."

Yazoo shrugged and then, to Leon's surprise, reholstered his guns. "If you insist," he said calmly. He lowered his head and placed his palms against each other. The air around him began to crackle with blue light, but unlike with a jump, this light completely surrounded him and seemed to pulse with a life all its own.

"Oh fuck," Reno said tiredly. "Why did no one remember that Yaz comes from a fold of alchemists?" He looked pointedly at Cloud.

Cloud glanced quickly at Sephiroth. The tall man had not moved. "Well," he answered Reno's question, "last time I saw him his powers weren't anything special."

The light flared, and suddenly half a dozen wolf-like creatures sprang from the ground. Leon took a step back in shock.

"Looks like he's been practicing," Reno commented acidly.

"Leon!"

Leon nodded at Cloud's command and mentally shifted gears for the change in strategy. He and Cloud had originally planned to attack Sephiroth, but the man seemed more than happy to let his brothers do the work for him and Reno clearly would not be able to handle all of these monsters by himself. So for now, the two of them would help in the fight against Yazoo. Leon hefted the Gunblade and surged forward just as the dark creatures attacked.

Two of the beasts came straight for him while the other four went for Cloud and Reno, almost as if they were being directed by their creator. Leon realized, as he snuck a glance at the brother who was deep in concentration, that they probably were. The things looked hollow and insubstantial, but they snarled and prowled like real beasts. They were all one color -- a dark, earthy brown -- and Leon couldn't see any eyes as they circled him or teeth when their mouths opened. But the two that attacked him obviously could see him, and when he blocked a lunge with the flat of his blade and pushed it back, he felt a weight resisting him. He continued to defend for several moments, looking for an opening, and when he found one, he sliced his blade down and directly through one of the creatures.

It exploded into a mist of fine grains.

"It's just dirt!" Leon cried to Cloud in surprise. "These things are made of dirt."

Cloud pushed one of the ones attacking him away and skewered the other, resulting in a similar explosion. "That doesn't mean it won't tear your throat out," he warned Leon.

"Fucking alchemists," Reno complained as his foot took out his second beast. "Cloud, what are we gonna do?"

Leon, who had just dispatched his other opponent, turned to ask what Reno meant. The monsters had fallen rather quickly; surely Reno could take on Yazoo now. But as he shifted his gaze around, he noticed more of the creatures growing out of the ground. With a sinking feeling, he realized that, with Leon's expansive lawn at his disposal, Yazoo could attack them with beasts until they either got killed or simply died from exhaustion.

"Need to take out the source," Cloud answered Reno's question. He suddenly had three monsters attacking him. Leon moved to help but was stopped by two dark, snarling mouths.

"Shit, Spike, even I'm smart enough to know that much. How d'you propose we manage it? Ow!" he cried as a beast bit him in the leg. "You piece of shit!" The EMR severed its head, then lifted to stop the lunge of another monster.

"We'll take these. You get in the air."

"Well, hells, why didn't I think of that?" Reno laughed. He smashed the creature currently going for his throat and then leapt into the air, wings beating strongly.

Leon gritted his teeth as most of the beasts that had been going for Reno turned and came for him. He quickly found himself reduced to blocking only with no room for attack. A claw caught him in the arm and ripped open a small gash. The part of his mind that wasn't busy keeping him alive simply couldn't believe that mere dirt could be sharp enough to cut him like that. It made no sense.

But, sense or not, it could still kill him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Leon saw Cloud go down, covered with dark monsters. With a loud cry, he struck out at the beasts in front of him, intending to go to the blond's assistance, but at that moment, all of the creatures fell apart. The living, snarling things in front of him turned into a waterfall of dirt that cascaded to the ground, and he heard Cloud cough and splutter as all of the creatures on top of him suddenly dropped onto him in a heap. Leon quickly ran to Cloud's side and helped him to his feet, brushing some of the dirt off in the process. Cloud thanked him with a small nod and then turned his attention to Reno.

The red-head had thrown an electro-cage at Yazoo, but the brother had broken off his spell and leapt away. The guns had emerged, and Reno swooped and spun in the air, avoiding bullets with amazing ease. He even found time to throw additional cages at Yazoo who avoided them all with swan-like grace.

"Come on," Cloud urged. They both ran towards Yazoo, but before they could reach him, he unfurled his wings and took to the air.

"Dammit," Leon swore.

"No," Cloud assured him. "This is fine. It gets him away from the earth so he can't make more monsters, and it brings him closer to Reno." He furrowed his brow for a moment, thinking. "It would be nice to get someone else up there, though."

"Is that my cue?"

Leon and Cloud both turned to find Riku running up to them, an excited grin on his face. He skidded to a stop beside them and reported, "Loz is fine. He almost flat-lined on me, but I got him going again. He's completely stable now. Just needs to wake up."

Cloud sighed heavily, the relief obvious on his face. "Thank you, Riku."

"Not a problem," Riku replied. He looked up at the two tumbling through the air in a storm of bullets and electricity. His grin widened. "Now, if you'll excuse me." His wings spread wide, and within seconds, he was in the middle of the fight, his black blade flashing and ringing with the sound of blocked bullets.

"Now what?" Leon asked. He glanced over to Sephiroth; the man still had not moved.

Cloud quickly assessed the two battles currently raging and replied, "I guess we wait until we're needed. We can't help those two, and it doesn't look like Zack and Sora need help. We'd just be in the way."

Leon didn't particularly like this answer, but he accepted it for now. Turning to watch the fight with Kadaj, he decided he agreed with Cloud's assessment. Zack and Sora were keeping the unstable young man jumping. Literally. In fact, as Leon watched, Kadaj used Zack's Buster as a kind of ramp, leaping onto it and running a few steps up the length of the blade before flipping over Zack's head to the other side. There, he met Sora who swung at Kadaj's head, only to be blocked by twin blades. Zack spun around and threw in his own slice, causing Kadaj to jump away once again. The man was a jackrabbit, Leon decided, and while he never really had time to offer any blows of his own, he kept successfully blocking and evading the ones that came in his direction.

Leon fingered the hilt of the Gunblade nervously. "I don't feel right just standing here," he told Cloud.

The other man was watching the fight in the air, but he reached out and touched Leon's arm. "I know," he replied quietly. "But if Seph is fool enough to give us this kind of advantage, I'm not going to complain."

A sharp sound jerked their attention to the fight on the ground once more. Kadaj had finally found an opening and had managed to knock Zack temporarily off his feet. Sora, coming to his defense, suddenly found a foot in his stomach. He sailed backwards several feet. It would only have been a mild blow if not for the tree.

Leon winced in extreme pain as the dull crack of his brother's head hitting the trunk sounded across the lawn. "Sora!" he cried, dashing forward. Sora focused on him dazedly for a moment; then his eyes rolled up in his head and he collapsed. Dropping down next to him, Leon took Sora's head in his lap and tried again. "Sora! Wake up, Sora!"

The clashing of blades directly above his head made Leon look up. Cloud stood before him, his sword connected with Kadaj's. He swallowed hard as he realized his lover had just saved his life. Cloud pushed Kadaj away and engaged him, Zack reentering the battle as well. Leon didn't even have the opportunity to thank him. He vowed instead to express his gratitude after all this was over and returned his attention to his brother, this time keeping alert to the battle raging around him.

Sora was breathing, his pulse steady. Leon's fingers looked for blood and found none. It seemed that the young man had merely suffered a concussion. Not surprising considering how hard he had hit the tree.

"Leon."

He lifted his head to find Kairi sitting next to him.

"I'll take him over by the house," she said, her expression serious but calm. Her eyes found his and held them. "You get back in there," she ordered.

He nodded and helped maneuver the unconscious young man into her arms. He only had enough time to stand and pick the Gunblade off the ground, however, before another cry rang out across the lawn, this one from much higher up. Leon turned to see two guns clatter to the ground.

"No! Please no!" a voice screamed, and Leon was stunned to realize that it had been Yazoo. He caught a brief glimpse of the apathetic brother, pinned like some kind of butterfly by Riku's hands around his arms, before Reno swooped in and the air exploded with green light.

A wild, animalistic scream erupted from Kadaj as he watched his brother revert and then fall. He broke away from Zack and Cloud and sped across the yard towards the others. Riku had attempted to catch Yazoo before he hit the ground and now lay mostly underneath the other young man, but Reno, with his dislike of Yazoo, had simply touched down without any sign of caring.

"Reno!" Zack cried in warning.

The red-head spun around just in time to see the dual-bladed sword slicing towards him. He raised the EMR instinctively, but he only had enough power behind it to slow down the other weapon's movement. It bit deeply into Reno's shoulder, ripping a wild cry of pain from his throat. Kadaj pulled the sword back violently, dragging the blades through Reno's skin and causing a fountain of blood to erupt from the parallel wounds.

"You bastard!" Zack screamed, lunging at Kadaj. The last brother whirled around and blocked him, causing bits of Reno's blood to fly from his blades onto Zack's face.

Cloud was running to Reno, PHS already in hand, and Leon followed him. They skirted around the mad battle now raging between Zack and Kadaj and dropped down beside Reno, clutching his shoulder tightly, and Riku with the unconscious Yazoo.

"I can't feel my fingers," Reno complained in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Hold on," Cloud assured him. "I'll fix it." His fingers were flying over the keys of his machine, and a moment later, he flipped open the top and injected Reno at the base of his neck. Leon watched in wonder as the blood flow stopped almost immediately. The red-head sighed, but his eyes closed and his posture slumped. Cloud caught him before he could fall and eased him to the ground.

"How's Yazoo?" Cloud demanded.

"Fine so far," Riku replied.

"Can you watch them both?"

The frown that appeared on the young man's face would have been comical if not for the situation. "You're kidding, right? You want me to sit out this whole thing and just be the nurse?"

"You got your chance to fight," Cloud snapped at him, unamused. "Now I need you here."

"Fine. Sorry."

A loud shout drew their attention away. Zack had caught Kadaj in a weak position, and as they watched, he thrust his sword at the other man with the intent to skewer him. Kadaj twisted and flipped at the last possible second, resulting in a sliced arm but nothing more.

"Zack!" Cloud cried. "Don't kill him!"

"No promises, Spike," Zack snarled and lunged at Kadaj again.

Cloud leapt to his feet, Leon doing the same, and the two of them prepared to jump in, to keep Zack from mortally wounding Kadaj if nothing else. But a soft, low laugh stopped them both in their tracks.

"'Don't kill him' indeed," a deep voice intoned.

Slowly, they turned and found Sephiroth smiling at them. The sight chilled Leon's blood. No one's smile should have that much evil in it.

"That," Sephiroth continued, "is why you are weak, Cloud. You don't have the courage to do what you must." He lowered his chin and gazed at Cloud with piercing intensity. "You cannot win against me."

Cloud, to Leon's extreme surprise, laughed. "Your mind games won't work against me anymore, Seph," he informed the other man. "Believe it or not, I actually have some confidence in myself now." His hand reached out and touched Leon's shoulder, stating without words who had given him that confidence.

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed, and he once again tried to cut holes in Leon with his stare. "Confidence means nothing without strength to back it up," he declared. "You are still weak, whether or not you believe otherwise."

"No," Cloud returned easily, "I'm not. I never have been. If I had been, I would have died years ago. And you know what, Seph? It takes a stronger heart and a stronger resolve to _save_ your enemies than it does to kill them." He smirked slightly. "Takes more skill, too."

Sephiroth sneered and would have replied, but a cry cut him off. They turned to see Zack with Kadaj's sword sticking out of his thigh. The brother was laughing wildly, convinced he had won, but Leon could see that familiar smile through the pain-filled grimace.

"Nice knowing ya, Kadaj," Zack said and grabbed the hand that held the sword currently piercing him.

Kadaj's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen. His mouth dropped open in a desperate scream as Zack's other hand slammed into his arm. The tornado erupted around them, engulfing them both.  Zack held on tightly until it stopped and Kadaj crumpled like a broken doll. After pulling the sword from his leg, Zack tried to stand but stumbled and fell over, grunting in pain when he hit the ground.

"Sorry, Spike," he called, pulling out his PHS to heal himself. "Looks like I'm down for the count."

"It's alright," Cloud assured him. "You did your part." His eyes shifted back to Sephiroth, and his grip on his sword tightened. "Now it's our turn to do ours," he said to Leon who nodded in agreement.

Sephiroth turned to face them fully, long coat and hair swishing gently with the movement. He ran his hard eyes around the lawn, assessing the damage.

"Still two left standing," he said with disinterest. "How disappointing."

"Three, you bastard!" Riku cried, leaping to his feet, but Cloud stopped him.

"No! You watch Reno and Yazoo."

"But Cloud … !"

"Riku!" he cut him off sharply. "I said I need you _there_." When Riku sat back down, grumbling mightily under his breath, Cloud called over to Zack, "You watching Kadaj?"

"Yeah. I'm not happy about it, but I am."

"Good." He nodded once at the man in front of him, the man who had beaten him, tortured him, and attempted to destroy his spirit. "All right, Sephiroth. Let's go." His eyes flickered briefly to Leon, and he smiled. "It's time to show you just how strong I am."

"I wonder," Sephiroth replied with quiet malice, "whether you'll be strong enough to continue living after I take everything you love away from you." His eyes rested pointedly on Leon who stared back without fear.

Next to him, Cloud laughed again. "That's not possible," he said. "Even if you somehow manage to kill everyone here and take me back to the deepest of Hells with you, you won't be able to destroy the love in my heart. That's something not even _you_ can do, Seph. Leon and I have a love that will last through death."

"Is that so?" Sephiroth sneered at him. "Then let's test that theory, shall we?"

And without any more warning, he lifted his sword and charged.


	18. Sephiroth

Sephiroth charged.

As his blade met the long, thin one of his enemy, Leon felt the other man's power shuddering in his arms and pushing him back. His foot slipped a bit on the grass, and he slid a few inches before regaining his footing. Across that small space where metal scraped and groaned against metal, evil green eyes glinted at him in amusement. _I'm going to take Cloud with me._ Leon stared back at him with resolve. _I'd like to see you try._

The split-second conversation ended as the object of their disagreement rushed Sephiroth. The tall man pulled away from Leon and dodged Cloud's attack, spinning gracefully into a clearer area. He paused a moment to smirk at them both, a picture of arrogance and indifference, and then Leon's entire world consisted of flashing blades.

Sephiroth was fast, as fast as Riku. But practicing against the young man had improved Leon's reflexes, and he managed to keep up without too much difficulty. Even so, he could do little more than defend, parrying blow after blow. After a frustrating few minutes where he must have attacked twice to Sephiroth's twenty, he noticed that Cloud was attacking far more often than Leon was, not surprising since the blond had far more experience. An idea hit Leon, and the next time Sephiroth swiped at Cloud, Leon jumped in and blocked it instead. Wide blue eyes stared at him for only a second before they reverted to their normal size, understanding shining in them. Cloud resumed his attacks, twice as many as before, and Leon went entirely on the defensive, shielding both of them by himself. It was a risky strategy as it left Cloud almost entirely open, depending on Leon to keep him safe, but it was different enough that it threw Sephiroth off-balance.

Leon loved the sight of confusion in those terrible green eyes.

They spun and twirled around the white-winged Skywalker, almost as a unit, Leon never straying too far from Cloud's side. Even though he kept his focus on Sephiroth, trying to gauge where that blade would strike next, he could still feel Cloud beside or behind him as they moved. He knew which direction to go so that they would not collide with each other and exactly when to step aside to allow First Tsurugi room to strike. More alive than they had ever been in his life, his senses took in and evaluated everything, even down to the small blue sparks that began to jump from their blades when they connected.

After what seemed like hours of fighting, Sephiroth struck, and a small cut opened on Leon's forearm. He shook it off and concentrated instead on the next attack which came seconds later. As their blades slid together, screeching, he caught a glimpse of the other's expression. Silver eyebrows had drawn together in concentration, but the distant look in those green eyes told Leon that he was not focused entirely on the men in front of him.

Sephiroth was thinking. Leon didn't like that at all.

The tall man pushed away from Leon, spun to avoid a thrust from Cloud, and flipped backwards to gain some distance. Once his feet delicately hit the ground, he lifted his sword and pointed at them, calling a momentary halt to the fight.

"I'm surprised," he stated evenly, his tone belying his words. "You deserve more attention than I had first thought." His eyes began to glow.

"Just great," Cloud muttered from Leon's left. He turned his head to look at the blond who was running a hand through his hair and pushing some of the sweat from his face.

"He's activating programs, isn't he?" Leon asked, knowing the answer already.

"Yeah."

"Any idea what they do?"

Cloud shook his head and regripped his sword. "All I know is that they're alchemy-based."

"Wonderful."

As they watched, Sephiroth lifted one hand and opened it to lay palm up. A moment later, a small blue ball of energy had appeared, hovering lightly above his skin.

"How is that even possible?" Leon cried.

"Well, it has to do with reforming the various gases that are present in the atmosphere …"

"That was _rhetorical_ , Cloud!"

If Cloud had a response, Leon never heard it. The ball suddenly flew at them, and they jumped in opposite directions. Leon had no idea what gases were in that thing, but he knew he didn't want to find out what they would do to him if they hit him. A second ball quickly followed the first, then a third and a fourth, and soon the air was full of blue energy that Leon had to avoid by scampering and rolling. Once, a ball landed in the dirt directly by his head. He heard it sizzle.

"Squall!"

"Sora!" he cried at the sound of his brother's voice. "Stay back!" He twisted to avoid another flying orb, this one passing close enough that he felt its heat. Yes, he decided, he definitely didn't want one of these things hitting him.

"I know, but Squall … !" Sora insisted. "Batter up!"

" _What?_ Sora, that is the craziest, most idiotic …"

…

… most _amazing_ idea ever.

The next time a ninety-mile-an-hour zinger flew at him, he didn't jump away. Instead, he moved slightly to the side, lifted the Gunblade, and swung for the bleachers.

Sephiroth's face was priceless.

"Woo hoo!" Sora cried. "That's one for the earthlings! Go Squall! Knock 'em outta the park!"

Sephiroth seemed to take offense at Leon's response to his projectiles, for suddenly they were all flying in his direction. Leon calmly sent them back, and those he couldn't hit, he dodged. Cloud, unwilling to be left out, ran to his side and started hitting those back as well until Sephiroth was leaping and twisting himself, trying to avoid his own attacks as they were returned to him. He eventually took to the air, thinking that his grounded opponents would no longer be able to reach him, but Leon shifted his swing from baseball to golf.

"Fore!" he cried at one point, unable to stop the smirk from covering his face. The ball he had just sent back nearly took off one of Sephiroth's wings.

Snarling, Sephiroth dismissed all the balls at once and simply hovered there for several heartbeats, staring down at Leon and Cloud in barely-suppressed rage.

"What now?" Leon asked as they stood side by side, trying to catch their breath.

"Your guess is as good as mine," the blond answered.

"Way to be reassuring."

"Not a problem."

Sephiroth's eyes were glowing with the onset of a new program, and a faint red light began to pulse around him. As he watched, Leon realized the air was slowly but steadily becoming warmer.

" _Fuck!_ " Cloud yelled suddenly. "Leon, _run!_ "

"What?"

Cloud just grabbed his hand and pulled him away from the floating man, now covered in red. Leon opened his mouth to ask why the hell they were running when Sephiroth exploded. Or, to be more precise, the air around him exploded in a towering pillar of fire. The shockwave sent Leon tumbling to his knees, the Gunblade falling from his hands to land next to him.

"Everyone grab onto something!" Cloud yelled from a few feet away.

Leon stared at him, not understanding, but then he felt it: something pulling on his legs. He looked over his shoulder at the fiery pillar and saw that it was turning rapidly. Like a great wind tunnel running in reverse. Drawing him in.

His knees beginning to slide across the grass, Leon dug his fingers into the dirt, but the small handhold he acquired did little. Ahead of him, he watched as Zack drove his weapon into the ground as hard as possible and held on. Quickly, Leon snatched up the Gunblade and did the same. The inferno continued to pull on him, growing stronger by the second. He felt his feet begin to leave the ground and dug his toes in as deeply as he could.

"How do we stop this?" he shouted over in Cloud's direction, praying that the wind would not suck his voice away.

Cloud did not answer for several seconds, his brows drawn together in thought. Then, he reached up to his sword, stuck in the ground just like Leon's, and extracted one of the many extra blades it held. Slowly and carefully, he began to move across the open space to Leon, using the two blades as handholds almost as if he were rock-climbing horizontally. Leon watched in amazement.

By the time Cloud reached him, the rotating pillar behind them had grown so large and hot that Leon was having trouble breathing, and its force was so strong that his knuckles were white from holding himself in place. Through the sweat running down his face and into his eyes, he looked over at Cloud who had settled directly next to him.

"I'm going to need you to use one hand to hold onto your blade and the other to hold onto me."

"What?" Leon demanded. "I can barely hold myself as it is!"

Cloud chewed his lip and gazed at the flames, the red light flickering over his face. "We'll have to time it, then," he said finally. He returned his eyes to Leon's and stated strongly, "Listen, when I say now, you grab me around the waist and make sure I don't get sucked too far. I'm going to power up my sword with energy and release it towards the center of that tornado thing. Hopefully, it'll hit close enough to Sephiroth to stop this."

Leon stood for a moment, gasping in the heat and wind, and considered the details of this plan. "Is this the only thing you can think of?" he asked.

"Yes."

"Then, let's do it."

Cloud nodded, smiling, and carefully reattached the extra piece of his sword to the main body. Then, he closed his eyes and concentrated. Leon watched as first his hands and then his sword began to glow blue. When the metal was shining with an almost painful intensity, Cloud opened his eyes and shouted, "Now!"

As Leon let go of the Gunblade with one hand and reached out to snag Cloud, the blond yanked his sword entirely out of the ground, exposing himself fully to the force of the winds. The ferocity of their pull translated directly into a searing pain in Leon's wrist as his remaining hand gripped the hilt of his blade. He realized at once that he would only be able to hold them for a few seconds before he lost his grip on one or the other, and he sure as hell wasn't about to let go of Cloud.

The blond had lifted his shining sword entirely over his head. With a grunt of effort, he swung it back down, and the light that had been trapped in the metal sprang away in a solid bolt that shot directly into the heart of the flaming pillar. Instantly, it burst, the light flooding out in concentric waves, although thankfully without the fire and its accompanying heat. The sudden lack of pressure caused both men to stagger for their balance.

And in that instant where he and Cloud were trying to regain their equilibrium, Leon saw that Sephiroth had been ready for them. Even as the last of the flaming tendrils expanded and pushed aside, he was coming. Diving for them. Sword extended and ready to kill. Leon didn't have time to move, speak, or even think. He only had time to do what his heart told him to do.

He pushed Cloud aside.

"No!"

A sharp, jarring pinch in the stomach and a flash of red before his eyes.  That was all it was.

"Squall!"

Someone -- Kairi maybe -- screamed.

He didn't fall.  The sword was holding him in place.

"Oh my _god!_ "

_"No! Leon!"_

Thin, cruel lips smiled at him, a gesture that did not reach those green eyes so very close to his own. Slowly, Leon reached up and ran a finger along the flat of that long, beautiful blade. The blade that had entered his abdomen and that he was sure had come out the other side. There was pain, of course there was pain, but he was in too much shock at the moment to really acknowledge it. And there was blood, lots of it, running hot along his skin and making his shirt stick to him, both front and back.

"Fool," Sephiroth whispered to him. "Cloud is mine."

Leon tightened the grip on the Gunblade which he still held in one hand. It was getting hard to breathe. _I suppose that's because I'm dying._

"No," he informed Sephiroth calmly. "Cloud belongs to no one but himself."

With the last bit of strength he had, he lifted the Gunblade above his head, the other hand coming up to grasp the hilt as well, and slammed it downwards. Sephiroth, with his weapon embedded in Leon's body and no time to move out of the way, could only watch it come down and slice more than halfway through his left wing.

Blood erupted from the wound and splashed against Leon's face. He didn't care. He had hurt Sephiroth. Sephiroth who had made Cloud a Skywalker against his will. Sephiroth who had beaten Cloud down and trampled on him until he had no belief in himself or in life at all. Sephiroth who could not let Cloud go, could not let him be happy, who had chased him, hunted him, and who had made it so that he would never live except in fear.

Sephiroth, who had just pulled back, yelling in pain, taking his sword with him.

Leon's strength was gone. His vision was blurring. He was breathing, but the air he brought into his lungs stung like a cold fire. He could feel his blood pouring out, faster now that the sword had gone through the opposite way. His knees buckled. He fell.

Someone caught him.

"Hold on, Leon! We've got you. Just hold on, okay?"

Riku. And that black blob must have been Zack. They talked rapidly to each other, dividing up the tasks needed to heal him. Leon blinked up at a PHS being held above him. Surely they couldn't just inject him with things and save him. He had been run through.

And where was Cloud?

His answer came in the form of a loud, long scream. It started low, almost quiet, but it quickly rose in pitch, volume, and intensity. A wild cry from the depths of Cloud's heart, from his very soul.

"Cloud!" Riku shouted. "No, don't!"

"What's he doing?" Zack asked.

"He's activating his unknown program. We don't even know what it does!"

"Cloud …" Leon whispered. His voice jolted Riku's and Zack's attentions back to him, and soon a needle pierced his skin just above his wound. The pain began to fade immediately, and the tickle of flowing blood stopped as well. A moment later, his vision cleared, and he blinked up at the two Skywalkers who were frantically trying to save him. Riku appeared to be scanning him, and Zack was cutting open his shirt to get better access to the wound. But that didn't matter to him right now.

"Whoa! Stop!" Riku cried as Leon tried to hoist himself onto his elbows. "We dulled the pain, but you're critical, Leon! You can't move!"

Breath rasping through gritted teeth, Leon forced out, "Want … to see … Cloud …"

"But you can't!"

"I've got you, Squall."

Sora's voice. Directly behind his head. Soft hands took him by the shoulders and guided him into a lap. Once he had settled down, fingers began to comb gently through his blood- and sweat-soaked hair.

"I'll hold him up," Sora said to Riku and Zack. "You guys just save him, okay?"

"We'll do what we can, kid," Zack replied solemnly.

Leon didn't hear their comments. He had eyes only for Cloud. His lover was glowing gold. A bright, beautiful gold that glinted off of his sword and seemed to pulse, much as Sephiroth's alchemy spells had done. Sephiroth himself was standing a few paces away from Cloud, his sword held loosely in his hand. He was trying to regain his aura of power and superiority even while his left wing hung limply at his side, dripping dark blood onto the fire-scorched ground. But even if he had been as proud and strong as he had been when he first stepped foot on Leon's lawn, Cloud still would have outshone him. Standing there in his coat of gold, Cloud looked inhuman, untouchable, and simply dazzling.

As Leon watched, Cloud raised First Tsurugi to point at Sephiroth.

The weapon broke apart.

In a powerful, silent moment that Leon knew he would never forget, Cloud attacked. The different pieces of First Tsurugi had shot forward to surround Sephiroth in a glowing, gold ring, and as Cloud leapt forward, impossibly fast, he snatched them each up in turn and slammed them into Sephiroth's body. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. And on six, all the blades ripped from their flesh sheaths and flew away to land in a neat little circle, into the middle of which Cloud touched down gently. The gold faded away.

Sephiroth staggered. His sword fell from his slackened grip. Dazed, he looked up at Cloud through rivers of blood running down his face. And then he fell and lay still, a crumpled heap upon the ground.

Cloud turned quickly on his heel. "Leon," he breathed.

Relief flooded over Leon as his lover approached, nearly causing him to slip into unconsciousness. But Cloud's hands on his face brought him back.

"How is he?"

"We're at about fifty-fifty," Zack informed him, Riku nodding. "But that's better than the almost zero percent chance he had at the start."

Leon blinked at this information. A sword had gone completely through him, and he still had a fifty percent chance of surviving? Hope surged through him, and he looked up into Cloud's worried eyes.

"Don't leave me," the blond pleaded. "Okay, Leon?"

He wet his lips, trying to get enough moisture on them to speak. "I'll try," he finally croaked. Cloud's face lowered, and Leon let his eyes slip closed as he was kissed softly.

"You know," Riku commented when Cloud pulled away, "I should probably clock you a good one for activating that thing. There was no guarantee it would be useful or that you'd even be compatible with it."

"It worked though," Cloud replied quietly.

"Sure it did, but that doesn't make it any less stupid." He shrugged and injected whatever he had been working on into Leon. "Kind of appropriate, I guess," he said half to himself. "Killed by his own illegal invention."

Cloud bit his lip, and his eyes wandered over to the motionless form on the ground. "He's not dead yet," the blond murmured. After a long moment where his lip suffered some intense abuse, he rose and dug out his PHS. "I'm going to save him."

" _What?!_ Are you _nuts?!_ "

Leon winced at the loud voice. Reno had woken up.

The red-head strode up to Cloud and stared him down with fierce eyes. "That fucker tried to kill everyone here," he protested. "He stood by and just let all of his so-called 'brothers' fall for his sake. And you _know_ what he would have done to you if he had succeeded in offing the rest of us."

"I know," Cloud whispered. "I'm still going to save him."

"Cloud," Zack cut in, lifting his eyes to his friend. "Just let him die. If you save him, he'll be back. Do you really want to go through this again? Someone might end up pierced through the heart next time." His eyes flickered to Leon. In a softer, meaningful voice, he added, "Do you really want to take that chance?"

Cloud hesitated. He looked down at Leon, eyes silently asking for permission. Leon let his gaze travel over Cloud's dirt- and sweat-stained face. In Leon's opinion, he was still beautiful.

"I'll fight for you as many times as I have to," he told the anxious blond. "Do what you think is right."

Cloud nodded, smiling, and turned away.

"Godsdammit!" Reno swore. "If I could use my arm, I'd cut the bastard's head off myself!"

"Let him go, Reno," Zack replied, returning his attention to Leon's wounds. "Cloud has to sort this out for himself."

With his head still in Sora's lap, Leon watched his lover cross to Sephiroth's still form and begin to scan him to assess his wounds. The expression on Cloud's face told him how bad the situation looked. Leon wasn't surprised; that attack had been devastating. He didn't think the others had to worry. If Cloud managed to save the other man without any help, it would be a miracle.

Putting aside the PHS, Cloud crouched down and began inspecting Sephiroth's injuries with his own hands. He pushed aside that long hair, matted now with blood, to find the cuts on his forehead, and then he began to pick at the other man's clothes, trying to see how deeply the gashes ran. When he reached the half-severed wing, however, Cloud stopped. Frowning deeply, he dipped a finger into the dark blood still oozing from the wound. When he pulled his finger back, it was covered in black, not red, and a faint vapor rose from the point of contact. Quickly, Cloud snatched his PHS back up and began scanning once more.

"Reno," he called after a minute.

"What?" the other man snapped. "If you want my help, forget it."

"I want you to come sit on Seph for me."

Reno blinked at this, and Riku and Zack both looked up in surprise.

"Sit on him?"

"Yes," Cloud replied calmly, "since you don't have both arms to hold him down." He flipped open the top of his machine and injected something into Sephiroth's arm.

Intrigued, Reno did as he was told. He crossed the distance to the fallen man and, without any ceremony, sat on his lower back directly behind the wings.

"Good," Cloud said, rising to his feet. He bent down, took hold of Sephiroth's injured wing at the base … and promptly pulled it out.

"What the fuck!" Reno cried as the wing flew free, splashing a bit of blood onto the red-head's clothes.

"Stay there," Cloud ordered. "I still have five more to do."

Zack had forgotten Leon for the moment and risen to his knees. "Cloud, what are you _doing?_ " he demanded. The tone of his voice suggested that he thought his friend might have gone mad.

In answer, Cloud lifted the detached wing and showed them all the base. Several black tendrils curled around the skin at the bottom, snaking gently as if alive. From the way the other men shrank back in disgust, Leon assumed this was not normal.

"Jenova," the blond offered as way of an explanation. "She died for unknown reasons on our world. It must have been some sort of parasitic disease. And Seph, who was injected with her cells as a baby, caught that disease." He threw the wing on the ground violently and reached down for the next wing.

"Shit," Reno breathed in comment as the second wing came tearing out.

Cloud said nothing, only moved systematically around Sephiroth's body, ripping out all six of his deceptively beautiful white wings. The wing that he had first torn out had slowly changed color in front of their eyes to a charred black, and as they watched, it began to crumble and break apart.

"Why did no one _notice?_ " Cloud demanded of no one in particular. His task finished, he dropped down, retrieved his PHS, and began the process of saving the tall man's life.

"Maybe they did," Riku answered quietly. "But you know Xemnas. He wouldn't particularly care what it was as long as it produced strong warriors."

Cloud snorted in reply. "Get off him now, Reno," he ordered. "And if you want to make yourself useful, I won't say no."

Humbled, Reno slipped off of Sephiroth's back and produced his own battered PHS from his pocket. He began attempting to use it with only five fingers.

Leon sighed and closed his eyes. It seemed that things had calmed down for the moment. The sudden lack of conversation, however, had allowed another sound to finally be heard. A soft, sobbing noise from behind him.

He looked up at Sora's upside-down face. "Who's crying?"

"Loz," his brother answered. "He woke up a while ago and has been bawling ever since. Kairi's trying her best to comfort him." He twisted his head to look back at his girlfriend, then looked back and shrugged.

Another sound, this one a rustling, reached their ears. Leon turned his head a little to see Yazoo rising to his feet. The young man took a shaky exploratory step and then another.

"You shouldn't walk," Zack called to him, having noticed as well. "Sit down and rest for a while."

Yazoo just sent him a look of pure hatred and kept on going. After several minutes of slow progress, Yazoo got close enough to his goal for Leon to discern what it was: Kadaj. The other young man was also awake and repeatedly pounding his fists into the dirt like a small child. When Yazoo dropped down beside him and placed a pale hand on his shaking shoulders, Kadaj finally lifted his head, revealing a pained face streaked with tears.

"Cloud," he cried, anguished, "what have you _done_ to us?"

"The hell?" Sora asked, surprised. "Why are you so upset? He _freed_ you from those controlling programs."

"We didn't _want_ to be freed," Kadaj replied in a mild wail. "He won't accept us like this now. He _won't!_ "

Sora's brows crashed down in frustration. "What is wrong with you?" he snapped. "You don't have to grovel at his feet anymore. You're _free!_ You can do what you want!"

"And where should we go?" Yazoo asked calmly. His soft green eyes gazed at Sora with as much weight as if he were glaring at him.

"I dunno. Home?"

A strangled sob left Kadaj's throat. "I don't have a home!" he informed them all. "I was starving in the streets when Brother found me. If he hadn't taken me in, I would have died!"

"And my home world is ravaged by endless war," Yazoo said. "It was common for attacks to occur at all hours of the day and night. The first night after Brother took me was the first time I was able to go to sleep without wondering if I would ever wake up again." His eyes shifted to the young man on the front step, still curled up in Kairi's arms. "Loz's father beat him, sometimes so much that he couldn't walk the next day. Are you suggesting he go back to that?"

Sora's eyes were wide. He swallowed and looked away, unable to reply. Leon was stunned. For these three, Sephiroth was their savior. No wonder they looked to him with such loving reverence. They had probably willingly given up their free will to be taken away from the nightmares they experienced daily. They didn't see themselves as victims, at least not of Sephiroth.

"So go back and get the program again," Riku suggested impatiently. "Stop acting like it's the end of the world."

Kadaj went back to pounding in the dirt at these words. For a moment, Yazoo attempted to get him to stop, but he eventually gave up and replied, "We can't. The programs are lost."

That shocked Riku. He turned and looked at them for the first time. "What?" he asked. "How did that happen?"

Yazoo's lip curled in anger and disdain. "Number Nine had an 'accident' with one of his experiments in Vexen's lab. All of the data on the computer was lost, and when they checked the back-ups, the disk containing the brother programs was found to be corrupted."

Riku laughed in spite of himself. "Demyx did _that?_ "

"It's not funny, Riku," Zack warned as Yazoo's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"You're right. Sorry."

Cloud had said nothing during this exchange, but now he rose to his feet and walked over to stand before the two ex-brothers. They both glared up at him with obvious hatred.

"I didn't know about the program being destroyed," he told them truthfully, "but even if I had, I still would have done what I did."

"You knew," Kadaj accused him. "You knew where we had come from and that Brother was the only thing we had."

"I did," Cloud agreed. "And as long as he doesn't die, you'll still have him. Plus, you'll now have the ability to follow him of your own choice."

"He won't accept us," Yazoo argued dully. "You know he won't."

Cloud shook his head. "No I don't, and neither do you. In fact, considering all that's happened, he may be the one to need your acceptance." The two silver-haired men lowered their gazes at this. After a moment of watching them, Cloud's expression softened and he held out his hand. "Come on. I could really use the help if we're going to save his life."

They hesitated, but only for a moment. Grimacing at his body which was obviously still in pain, Kadaj pushed himself to his knees and reached up to clasp Cloud's hand. Yazoo quickly stood and, guiding Kadaj's arm around his neck, helped his younger brother to his feet as well.

"Oi, Loz!" Kadaj yelled across the lawn to the man clinging to Kairi. "Stop crying and get over here to help Brother!"

The big man lifted his head, scrubbed at his eyes a bit, and then stood, sniffling. He crossed the lawn to the other three and, taking in the situation with his still-watery eyes, lifted Kadaj bodily and carried him over to Sephiroth. Kadaj yelled his protests, but Loz ignored him as did Yazoo who followed after, steadier on his feet than before. Reno wisely relocated before they arrived.

"Leon."

He looked over to Riku who smiled at him gently.

"You're out of critical now, but we still don't want to move you yet, okay?" When Leon nodded, he suggested, "Maybe you should try to sleep."

Before he could answer, Sora had twisted and was shouting towards the house, "Kairi! Go get a blanket or two from inside."

Leon frowned. He didn't want to sleep. He wanted to keep watch on Cloud. Maybe if the blond were holding his head instead of his brother, he would try to relax. But as long as Cloud was too far away to touch, he wanted to stay awake. He didn't give a damn how childish and stubborn a feeling it was.

_"Leon."_

_Naminé?_

_"Sleep, Leon. Everything will be all right now."_

_You're not near the windows, are you?_

_"Sleep, Leon."_

She began to stroke his mind softly. Sora's fingers were doing the same to his hair. Kairi appeared with a blanket and threw it over him, tucking the edges under his sides with maternal care. It was all so … soothing.

_Naminé?_

_"Yes?"_

_Keep an eye on Cloud for me?_

She chuckled gently. _"Of course."_

With a tired sigh, Leon closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.


	19. This is Our Story

_Eight_ Skywalkers.

There were eight Skywalkers in Leon's house. Eating his cooking.

Well, okay, he wasn't doing the cooking because he couldn't walk yet. Kairi did most of it with help from Loz, who it turned out could make a mean pot roast. And to be fair, Sephiroth wasn't eating much more than dry toast and chicken soup -- Leon had stared quite rudely the first time he had seen the violent, intimidating man sipping soup daintily like some old woman. But still, it was the principle of the thing. Eight Skywalkers.

_Eight._

"Leon? Are you warm enough?"

Leon snapped himself from his brooding and glanced up at Cloud who was leaning over the back of his chair.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?" Cloud pressed, moving around to stand next to him. His hands automatically straightened the blanket around Leon's body and tucked it in some more. "Do you need anything else? A drink? Something to eat?"

"I'm fine," Leon repeated with a small smile. "Never pegged you as the mother-hen type, Cloud dear."

Across the room, Sephiroth glanced up from the novel in his hands -- thankfully not one of Leon's. The removal of his wings had changed the silver-haired man drastically, but he still wasn't particularly pleasant. Apparently the real Sephiroth was more aloof and withdrawn than Leon and Cloud put together. And he still clearly desired Cloud, if the looks of dislike he sent Leon's way were any indication. However, the Sephiroth who was not being driven mad by some strange disease had seemingly accepted the fact that Cloud was taken for the present.

Laughing a bit at Leon's comment, Cloud replied, "Only for you, Leon darling. Everyone else can take care of their own damn selves."

Leon felt a slight twinge of satisfaction at the way Sephiroth's eyes narrowed in unhappiness at Cloud's pet name for him. He wasn't about to smear it in the other man's face that he had won the battle for the blond's affection, but it still felt good to know. Especially since Sephiroth had shown very little remorse for his actions, by which to say he had shown none at all.

Cloud had explained to him, once he was awake enough to understand, about his wings and the disease. How it had facilitated his transformation, at the cost of his sanity, and how it had settled entirely in his wings so that when Cloud had pulled them out, he had freed the other man from the parasite and restored the entirety of his mind to its rightful owner. Once Cloud had finished, Sephiroth had considered all of this information for a while and then said, very simply, "I'm not going to apologize."

Leon had been furious, but Cloud had just half-smiled and answered, "I don't expect you to." And that, as far as the two men were concerned, was that. Issue resolved and no longer to be discussed. Leon couldn't believe it, but, as Zack had reminded him quietly, it was Cloud's problem and Cloud's solution. And as long as it was _over_ , what did it matter how the war had ended?

"Cloud?" Kadaj had appeared out of nowhere. The young man was extremely good at that, Leon had noted. "Can I talk to you a minute?"

"Sure," Cloud answered, turning to face him.

Kadaj attempted a little half-smile. Interestingly enough, while Loz had fallen into their small group as if he had always been there and Yazoo floated around it with much of his normal disinterest, Kadaj seemed rather nervous to be there and almost -- if Leon dared to use the word for someone who had nearly killed him -- shy. He spent most of his time tending to Sephiroth and avoiding Sora, who had decided the jumpy young man just needed someone friendly with whom to talk. Leon, who had spent most of his recuperation time in the same room with Sephiroth, had been quite amused by the way Kadaj would instantly disappear at just the sound of his little brother's voice and then reappear when the coast was clear.

"The others and I were talking," Kadaj told Cloud, "and it's going to be a very long time before Br--" He forcibly stopped himself. Shutting his eyes briefly, he pushed forward. "-- before S-Sephiroth is well enough to get the transformation." He took a quick breath to calm himself after forcing out the foreign name and then continued, "We don't want to impose on you and Leon for that long, so we thought we'd do a side-by-side jump with … him … in the center."

Cloud was smiling, more in approval of Kadaj's attempts to accept the change in his life than anything else. "That sounds like a fine idea," he assured the young man. "And if Seph keeps recovering at the rate he is, you should be able to leave in a day or two."

"Right." Kadaj managed a full smile this time, but quickly turned away and moved to Sephiroth's side. He began to fuss and flutter about the older man much as Cloud had done to Leon.

Speaking of which …

"Are you sure you don't need anything?"

Leon glared good-naturedly up at his lover. "I said I'm _fine_ ," he replied. "What is with you all of a sudden?"

Cloud's smile turned a little sheepish, and his hands began smoothing out the exact same patch of blanket he had already straightened. "I just want to make sure," he explained, "because I'm thinking of leaving for a bit. Loz made some cookies this morning, and Riku wanted to take some over to Dr. Kadowaki's. I thought I'd go with him."

Leon understood. Riku wanted to go see Naminé. While Leon had been asleep and before Cloud and Zack had transferred him to the house, Riku thankfully had remembered their little blonde fugitive. He had stolen away from the gathered assembly to sneak her out the back door and over to the neighbor's. Sephiroth and the others were still friends of the Organization, after all, and could not be trusted with their secret.

According to Cloud, Riku had introduced Naminé as the blond's sister and asked if she could stay with the doctor for a few days while Cloud took care of a very sick Leon, inventing a weak constitution as an excuse for her removal from the house. To Riku's surprise and horror -- although if he had checked with Cloud first, he would have known better -- the little doctor immediately insisted upon coming over to the house to help with Leon's "illness". Naminé had somehow managed to talk her out of it.

"Well if that's the case," Leon conceded, "I'll take a couple of those cookies and a cup of tea."

"You got it," Cloud replied, leaning closer. He brushed his lips against Leon's in a soft kiss. "You should probably try to sleep while I'm gone," he commented after pulling back.

Leon rolled his eyes and resisted the urge to groan. "I feel like I've done nothing but sleep for the past two days," he complained.

His lover just chuckled at him. "Rest is good for you." Then, he leaned in again and whispered in Leon's ear so that Sephiroth and Kadaj could not hear, "Especially if you want to have any fun after everyone else leaves." His tongue slid out and quickly grazed the edge of Leon's ear.

If Leon had not thought it warm enough before, that problem had been remedied now. "You damn brat," he growled lowly.

"And yet you still love me." Smiling like the proverbial canary-eating cat, he turned and headed into the kitchen to fulfill Leon's request. Left alone, Leon shut his eyes and tried to will the extra blood in his lower regions back into less dangerous areas. He was so intent on keeping his breathing steady and his face normal that he very nearly missed the completely unexpected words that floated across the room to him.

"You two go well together."

Shocked, Leon opened his eyes and stared at Sephiroth. The silver-haired man was engrossed in his paperback, not paying Leon the slightest bit of attention. Yet, he knew he hadn't imagined those words. Kadaj had followed Cloud into the kitchen, so that left only one person from which they could have issued.

Grinning, Leon leaned his head back against the cushions of his chair and shut his eyes. Even with a couple of still-healing holes in him, victory felt so very good.

xXx

"You _have_ to visit!" Kairi demanded, her voice coming from somewhere around Loz's middle. She had her arms wrapped around his torso tightly as she tried very hard not to cry.

"'Course I will," he answered cheerily, although signs of tears were beginning to shine in his eyes as well. "And when I do, I'll bring along my lasagna recipe." Kairi nodded into his chest and broke down in spite of herself.

Leon smirked at his almost-sister. "Who would have thought she'd grow so attached to a guy who tried to kill her?" he commented idly.

Next to him, Riku laughed. "Funny," he replied in a teasing voice. "I distinctly remember trying to kill a few people around here myself."

"This is true." He reached out and messed up the younger man's long hair.

Leon couldn't believe how good it felt just to stand again. To be well enough to walk around on his own without depending on someone to prop him up and help him along. He didn't even mind that he was currently standing in his destroyed front lawn. The deep gashes in the ground and the multiple scorch-marks could do nothing to ruin his good mood.

"Hey, Kadaj!" Sora called from his spot near Kairi. "You visit, too! I never got to teach you how to play bocce."

Kadaj gave Sora a rather fake half-smile and took a discreet step closer to Sephiroth. Standing on the other side of the tall man, Yazoo lifted an eyebrow and asked, "Am I invited to visit as well?" He kept his face neutral, but even so Leon could hear the smallest bit of longing in his voice.

"Of course," Sora answered him with a bright smile. "But you have a girlfriend, right? Go visit her first." Yazoo dipped his head and hid his blush -- prominent due to his pale skin -- behind his long hair. Closer to the house, Reno opened his mouth to make a comment, but Zack clapped a hand over his mouth and stopped him. The resulting fight over this kept the two of them occupied for several minutes.

Once Loz and Sora had pried Kairi from the big man, he walked over to the others and took his place behind Sephiroth. Leon had asked and Cloud had explained that regular people could participate in a walk if carried or otherwise held by the one doing the jump, like how Reno had brought Naminé. The three ex-brothers had decided that Kadaj and Yazoo would both guide Sephiroth by holding his arms and Loz would follow behind just to make sure nothing went wrong. No one had any doubts that Sephiroth would eventually undergo the proper transformation, but it would be several months before he would be well enough to do so without serious side-effects.

"Bye!" Sora cried, waving wildly over his head. Next to him, Kairi waved also but far more discreetly. Loz waved back, Yazoo inclined his head towards them, and even Kadaj managed a small wriggling of fingers in Sora's direction. Six black wings unfurled simultaneously.

"Wait."

Everyone looked to Sephiroth as the word fell from his lips. His green eyes were firmly fixed on blue ones owned by the man standing to Leon's left. And when he began to stride forward with purpose, Leon wasn't surprised. Both he and Cloud had expected something like this to happen.

What he hadn't expected, however, was for Sephiroth to stop before them and then turn his sharp gaze to _him_. Those green eyes bored into him, although this time they seemed less intent on drilling holes than they were on exploring Leon's mind and heart. After several tense silent minutes, the silver-haired man slipped a hand into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a small cloth bag. He held it out to Leon.

"For the lawn," he explained.

Stunned, Leon held out his hand and accepted the bag which, he assumed, contained some form of money. Sephiroth nodded once in satisfaction before turning his attention to Cloud. After staring at him for a moment, he lifted a hand and captured the blond's chin with long, pale fingers. Carefully, Sephiroth turned Cloud's face to one side and then the other, as if inspecting him. Leon understood though; he was memorizing him, the act of a heart that never expected to see the one it cared for ever again.

After burning both sides of Cloud's face into his mind, Sephiroth turned the blond to face him once more. And kissed him. Leon slowly drew his breath in and let it out again, refusing to let the action bother him. This was a good-bye kiss, in more ways than one. Cloud had closed his eyes, understanding this as well. A heartbeat later when Sephiroth pulled back, he opened his eyes again and gazed at the other man with calm patience.

"Good-bye, Cloud," Sephiroth said quietly.

"Good-bye, Seph," Cloud answered in a similar tone.

Sephiroth stepped back, gave Leon one more look, and then returned to his three loyal companions, taking his place between the two younger ones and hooking his arms around their elbows.

A moment later, all four had disappeared in an ear-shattering burst of blue and silver light.

Leon heard Cloud release a long breath. Without looking at him, he slipped an arm around the blond's waist. Cloud responded by leaning into Leon's body.

"Well, now that they're gone," Riku announced, "I'm going to go get Nami." When Sora sniggered at him, the young man spun on his best friend and demanded, "You have something you want to say, Sora?"

"Nope," Sora replied cheekily. "Not me." He slipped his arms around his sniffling girlfriend and began leading her into the house. Riku turned on his heel and, grumbling, set off for Dr. Kadowaki's house.

"We'll be next, of course," Zack said, walking up to Leon with Reno on his heels, "but if you don't mind, we'd like to hang out a few more days."

"I don't mind," Leon told him.

"What did that bastard give you anyway?" Reno asked, peering at the bag in Leon's hand. Not wanting to remove his arm from Cloud, Leon tossed the red-head the bag instead. When he had opened it, his eyes widened and he whistled. "That is a serious amount of gil."

"Gil?" Leon questioned. He received his answer when Reno pulled out a single gold coin. He showed it off to Leon, turning it this way and that to make it shine in the sun, and then dropped it back in the bag which clinked, telling of just how many more of the coins were in there.

Cloud chuckled a little. "Too bad there's no currency exchange from gil to dollars on this planet."

"Fuck that," Reno replied easily. "Just melt the stuff down." He grinned. "Of course, if you don't want it, I'll be happy to take it off your hands."

Zack sighed and snatched the bag from the other man. "You'll just throw it away on booze and women," he admonished.

"And there's something wrong with that?"

Zack turned and, tossing the bag idly up and down with one hand, began walking away. "Come on, Reno. Let's leave the lovebirds alone."

Reno snorted with amusement but followed anyway. As they left, Leon heard the red-head comment, "Spike's not a lovebird. He's a chocobo, man," and Zack erupt into peals of laughter. When he turned to Cloud in confusion, his lover just rolled his eyes.

"What's a chocobo?"

"I'll tell you some other time."

"Okay." He looked at those deep blue eyes and felt a wave of peace settle over him. Only half aware of his actions, he lifted his free hand and ran his fingers gently over Cloud's cheek and down to his jaw. Cloud's eyes closed at the soft sensation, and a small smile pulled at his lips. Leon leaned in and kissed them. They were still warm, but he didn't care. That part of Cloud's life was over, and from here on out, Leon would be the only one to touch those beautiful lips. They would now be able to write their own story together.

"Welcome to freedom, Cloud," Leon whispered, repeating the words the blond had said to Naminé. Finally, the promise of those words had become reality.

Cloud smiled against Leon's lips and replied, "Freedom. I like the sound of that."

xXx

Zack and Reno left three days later. They both promised to visit, although Cloud nearly took the invitation back once Zack started talking about Leon and Cloud naming their firstborn after him. "If it's a girl, you can call it Zackaline or something," he insisted, grinning from ear to ear and pointedly ignoring the annoyance on Cloud's face.

Riku left as well, although only to gather the few possessions he had left behind. He and Sora had decided that Riku and Naminé would live with Sora and Kairi while the latter two continued with college and the former two tried to figure out what to do with their displaced lives. Leon, while listening to the young men make plans over dinner one night, had wanted to ask a rather important question but had strictly held his tongue. Naminé ended up asking it for him.

"Sora? When were you going to tell us that there's only one guest room and it only has one bed?"

Riku had turned a rather impressive shade of burgundy before attempting to beat a giggling Sora to death with a serving spoon. Leon saved his brother's life by offering the air mattress.

"It's not like I need it anymore," he had commented. Cloud had just smirked.

The day Riku left, Sora and the girls piled into his car and left as well. Sora made a huge show of saying good-bye to his beloved brother and his equally beloved brother-in-law. Leon took it for a while, but when Sora began to warn him about the importance of safe sex, Leon picked his little brother up bodily and shoved him into the back seat of the car with Naminé.

"Go before I kill him," he told Kairi, who had moved over to the driver's seat when she saw them coming. She obeyed, driving away with a cheery wave and a promise to call when they got in.

Once his brother's car had disappeared down the long driveway and onto the main road, Leon turned to Cloud. "Do you hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" Cloud asked back, puzzled.

"Exactly."

Cloud chuckled at him and lifted his arms above his head in a long, lazy stretch. "So what now?" he asked when he was finished.

Leon had watched that stretch. Had watched muscles flex beneath the cotton of Cloud's shirt. Had seen the pleasure on Cloud's face as tight spots eased and aches faded. Had seen the sliver of exposed flesh at Cloud's waist. It had been far, far too long since he had touched that body.

"What now?" he echoed, closing the distance between them with deliberate steps. "I think now I'll start courting you properly."

"Courting me?" Cloud repeated, surprised. He blinked at Leon in confusion.

"Yes." Leon caught Cloud's hands in his own and used them to pull the blond closer to him. In a quiet, almost sing-song voice, he continued, "A nice dinner at a fancy restaurant. Then maybe a walk in the park together." The light tone left his voice as he leaned in closer and finished, "And then I'll bring you home and fuck your brains out."

Cloud threw back his head and laughed. "I see. That's how romance writers court people, is it?"

"Ex-romance writers," Leon reminded him with a smirk.

"Well," the other mused with an identical expression, "normally I'd suggest we skip the first two and just do the last one, but considering the fact you're still not completely healed, I vote for skipping the last two and just doing dinner." He patted Leon's cheek when his face fell a little. "Now, now, don't be so sad. You'll be well enough to walk in the park soon."

When Leon growled dangerously at him, Cloud just laughed some more, and soon Leon had joined him. He took his love and lover by the arm and guided him back into their house and home.


	20. Epilogue

Leon was in Heaven. His house was silent. His wounds were healed. His stomach was full with a delicious dinner that he had prepared. And Cloud was doing the dishes.

Sitting at the kitchen table, Leon nursed the last of his wine and watched the muscles in Cloud's back as the blond scrubbed at a greasy pan. It really was wonderful how quiet and simple and _normal_ everything was once again. Leon had his old life back, but now it was substantially improved. He had love in his life again, and instead of being merely content, he was truly, blissfully happy.

"Ow, dammit." Cloud lifted a finger and inspected it for a moment before sticking it under the tap and turning the water to cold.

Even though he knew his lover had probably jammed or scraped the digit, Leon couldn't help teasing him a little. "What's the matter, dear? You break a nail?"

Cloud didn't even turn around, just flipped Leon off with his other hand and, switching the tap back to hot, returned to his task. Leon chuckled at him and took another sip of wine. He knew Cloud didn't particularly like doing the dishes, but the man insisted on pulling his own weight around the house. After all, they were a couple now, and even though Cloud would probably never be able to legally own anything, Leon still considered everything he had to be Cloud's as well. Including the tableware.

"Ow! Gods _dammit!_ "

Setting down his wineglass, Leon rose and walked over to stand behind the other man. "What's going on?" he asked, concerned.

Cloud sucked on two of his fingers and glowered. "I can't get this shit off the pan," he complained around the digits. "It's like glue." He angrily tossed the pan into the sink, crossed his arms over his chest, and sulked. "Fuck it," he mumbled. "Just fuck it."

Leon leaned over his shoulder and gazed into the pan that was thinly lined with bits of breading, slivers of semi-burnt garlic, and just general oiliness. Sighing quietly, he reached around the other man who refused to move and grabbed the liquid soap. After squirting a generous amount into the pan, he turned on the tap, switched the head to form a spray instead of a flow, and filled the pan up, aiming the water at the soap to create lots of bubbles.

"You've got to let something like this soak for a while," he explained patiently.

Cloud continued to sulk. "I don't care anymore," he grumbled. "Seriously, fuck it."

Leon grinned. That sounded like a good idea actually. And he already had Cloud in a rather compromising position.

"Leon!" Cloud squawked when he felt a hand slide up the inside of his leg. "I said fuck it, not fuck me!"

"Same difference," Leon smirked. He dropped his lips to the blond's neck and began to kiss a line from his ear to his collarbone.

"I am _not_ in the mood for this," his lover protested.

"Then just stand there and pout. I don't mind." He drew a small picture on Cloud's skin with his tongue and then pulled the area into his mouth where he sucked gently on it. Cloud humphed at him as if to say that he had no intention of responding to this treatment, but Leon was not discouraged. He moved his hands to Cloud's waist and slipped his thumbs under the fabric of his shirt. Gently he began to massage the small of the other man's back.

"You know," he whispered, going back to kissing Cloud's neck lightly, "standing here with you has given me this wonderful mental image."

"I bet," Cloud snorted. He still sounded uncooperative, but Leon could feel the muscles in his back relaxing as Leon worked on them. "I thought sex in the kitchen was forbidden."

Leon paused for a moment to laugh against Cloud's shoulder. "True," he conceded. "But," he continued with obvious meaning in his voice, "since I am the head chef of this kitchen, I can change the rules to suit my needs. And right now, I think I need to pound you into this counter."

Cloud snorted again, but the sound only had about half of its usual disdain. Leon realized with satisfaction that his hands and voice were having their desired effect. Carefully, he pressed his lower half into the man before him so that the other could feel his warm arousal. He was rewarded with the smallest hitch of breath and a slight tightening of shoulder muscles. As he dropped his head down to soothe those muscles with his mouth, he moved his hands around to Cloud's front and grasped the blond's arms, pulling them apart from each other and guiding them down to hold onto the counter. Cloud resisted for a minute but eventually gave in when Leon did nothing more than run his hands up and down Cloud's arms, stopping here and there to massage a muscle or trace a pattern on his skin. Slowly, he began to let himself relax.

Which is exactly what Leon wanted. He watched in triumph as Cloud's rigid posture curved a bit forward and his head dropped just slightly towards his chest. A quick glance at his lover's face showed that his eyes were closed and his expression calm. His breathing was steady but just a tad shallow. Leon smirked to himself. He was very much enjoying turning Cloud on in spite of himself. It was a definite challenge.

Abandoning Cloud's arms, Leon pulled his hands to his lover's chest and wrapped him in a tight hug. He rested his chin on Cloud's shoulder and whispered in his ear, "I've changed my mind. I'm still going to pound you into the counter, but not right away. Those sounds you make when you're on the verge of orgasm are so beautifully delicious that I think I'd like a helping of those as an appetizer. So first, I'm going to suck you off."

A soft gasp escaped Cloud's lips, but he quickly shut his mouth to prevent another. Leon could feel trembles start to work their way through his lover's body. He smiled. So Rinoa and Cloud did have something in common. His wife had loved it when he talked dirty to her. There was something unbearably sexy, she had said, about imagining what was going to happen to her before it actually did. Apparently Cloud felt the same. And Leon had plenty of practice crafting words in such a way to create the exact image he wanted.

"I'm going to get you good and hard just the way we are. With you facing the sink, your hands on the counter. I'm not going to let you kiss me or even touch me. You're going to have to just stand there while I stroke you through these sexy jeans of yours. And then, when you're just about ready to go mad with need, I'll spin you around, lift you up on the counter, move only enough of your clothes so that I can get to your cock, and then suck you."

Cloud was breathing hard now, his lips parted, his chest expanding erratically against Leon's arms. Leon hadn't moved his hands from their places near the blond's armpits. He had absolutely no intention of touching Cloud until he had finished speaking. He had even ensured that his face was far enough away that his lips wouldn't brush the other's ear or cheek as he talked. Only his voice and the warm breath it rode on stroked his lover's flushed skin.

"While I run my lips and tongue all over you, I'm going to listen to all those amazing sounds you make. Those moans and pants and those quick, high-pitched gasps that are so amazingly _erotic_ that I get damn near close to coming just _thinking_ about them. Jesus, Cloud, you have no idea how completely captivating you are when I'm driving you over the edge. The way you arch your back, the way your hands scrabble and search for something to hold onto, the way your head moves back and forth in utter abandon. It makes me want to please you over and over and never stop." He sighed deeply, digging his chin a little further into Cloud's shoulder. His lover was openly shaking, his head tilted back onto Leon's shoulder and his body leaning against him for support. When Leon's sigh traveled down his neck, he shuddered and moaned softly.

"After I get you to come for me, I'll give you a small break to recover, but not too much. I'll pull you down off the counter and start kissing you. And then I'll start pushing buttons. I know where they all are, Cloud. You know I do. That spot at the hollow of your neck. Your nipples, mouth only since fingers don't work as well. And of course, that special spot on your back. I'll push them all and drive you wild. You'll be so aroused that you'll be damn near close to begging, but I won't push you that far. I wouldn't do that to you. So when I start to see that desperate desire in your eyes, I'll send those jeans to the floor, turn you around so your hands are gripping the counter again, and enter you. And then I'll fuck you, Cloud, until we're both near-screaming in ecstasy. I'll fill you with my entire length, the way I know you like it, and start driving in and out. I'll push you higher than you've ever been before, and I'll make you come so hard that the only thing keeping you standing will be this counter, right here."

Leon paused and tried to wet his lips with a dry tongue. He had managed to keep his voice mostly level and calm through all of that even though he had so much blood in his lower regions right now that he wondered why his brain hadn't starved. Cloud was barely standing. Leon was supporting almost all of his weight, and he trembled violently with desire.

"So," Leon said brightly after a moment, "how does that sound?"

Cloud swallowed thickly and answered in a surprisingly even voice. "Leon?"

"Hmm?"

"Shut the fuck up and fucking _do_ it already."

Leon couldn't help himself. "Such language," he teased with a mild chuckle. "Are you telling me you feel like being on top instead?"

Cloud snarled viciously in response, and Leon decided he had tortured his love for long enough. One hand shot to the blond's head, snagging him by the hair and pulling him to the side to expose his neck to Leon's mouth, and the other slid down to seize Cloud's erection through the hot fabric of his jeans. Leon's touch shocked a loud, wild cry from Cloud who nearly fell as his knees buckled at the onslaught of pleasure, but Leon clutched his lover more tightly to himself and held him up. He ran his hand roughly along the prominent outline in Cloud's jeans and listened greedily to the reactions he was producing. The verbal foreplay had aroused the blond nearly to the breaking point, making his cries as his desires began to be fulfilled substantially louder and unrestrained. Leon very much wanted to grind himself against Cloud's perfect body, but he held himself back. This first part of the fantasy was for his love alone.

Considering how hard Cloud had gotten simply from Leon's sensuous words, Leon quickly decided to move on to the next step. He seized Cloud by the hips and spun him around. Instinctively, the blond leaned forward to kiss him, but Leon ducked the approaching lips and instead lowered his body so that he could swiftly and easily lift Cloud onto the counter next to the sink. Dazed with lust, Cloud just blinked at him as Leon's fingers undid the button and zipper of his jeans, but when Leon pushed all the fabric away and closed his hand around Cloud's erection, his head fell backwards, eyes closing. It hit the window with a soft rattle, making Leon grin.

Leon didn't particularly enjoy giving head. He supposed it must be his straight-guy roots. But if it was for Cloud … . Dipping his head down, he ran his tongue along Cloud's shaft, wetting everything down a bit before returning to the top and taking as much as he could into his mouth. Cloud groaned low in his throat and then gasped as Leon slowly ran his tongue in a circle around the shaft while it was within his mouth. He began to bob up and down, slowly at first and then faster once Cloud's gasps and sighs had fogged his head enough that he no longer thought about what he was doing. He couldn't deep-throat the way his lover could, so he circled one hand around the base, bringing it up and down in time with his mouth. Once Cloud's cries reached a certain level, he added the smallest bit of suction to his movements, instantly driving the sounds even higher. It wasn't much longer before Cloud came. As he released, Leon held his mouth and hand still, knowing that any further movement would drive the intensity to an unpleasant level, and instead enjoyed the feeling of muscles pulsing underneath his hand and the half-strangled sounds of utter ecstasy that escaped from the throat above him.

As Cloud slumped against the wall and tried to breathe, Leon took a step across the kitchen to retrieve a glass from the cabinets. He filled it with water at the nearby sink and tried to wash down the lingering unpleasantness in his mouth. It wasn't the taste so much as the texture, kind of like a thin coating of glue or paint that hid in the back corners of his jaw and refused to leave. He ended up downing the entire glass and filling it again.

"Doing this in the kitchen isn't such a bad idea," he commented to Cloud who had finally figured out how to focus his eyes again. When the blond's hand reached out silently for the glass, Leon gave it to him with a smile. "I mean," he continued, "just think of all the things we could use for lube. Butter, vegetable oil, chocolate syrup …"

Cloud rolled his eyes at him from over the rim of the glass. Putting it down in the sink, he reached out and flipped the tap on. "Water," he said pointedly.

Leon shut the tap back off and leaned onto the counter in front of Cloud, sliding his hands beside either side of him. "You're rather boring, aren't you?" he remarked.

"You probably should have thought of that before you fell for me," the cheeky reply came right back at him. Cloud leaned forward until their noses were touching and smirked cockily. "Considering the fact that my problem has been dealt with and yours hasn't, don't you think you should be nice to me?"

"Oh, I'll be nice to you alright."

In one swift, smooth movement, Leon slid his hands all the way behind Cloud and pulled, bringing their lips together forcefully. They kissed for a few minutes, but then Leon pulled Cloud all the way off of the counter and took a few steps backwards to give him some room.

"Wing, now," he ordered. "I want to pet it."

Cloud rolled his eyes at him again. "I'm not some kind of cat, you know."

"I know," Leon answered evilly. "You're a chocobo. Which still makes you pet-worthy."

Heaving a great sigh which Leon knew was just for show, Cloud did as instructed. As the wing stretched out behind him, he mock-protested one more time, "This wasn't part of your original plan."

"Head chef," Leon reminded him, already running his fingers along soft feathers. "I'm improvising." He considered his options for a moment, still touching and petting absently. Finally, he said, "Take your shirt off and turn around."

Cloud lifted a questioning eyebrow. The feathers on the back of the wing weren't as soft, so Leon usually preferred the front. But after receiving a confirming look, Cloud shrugged and began to take off his shirt. Leon still wasn't sure how the mechanics of that whole thing worked or even how the wing could emerge without tearing Cloud's shirt in the first place. When he had asked, Cloud had answered that it would take him several hours to explain and most of it would be scientific jargon that would also have to be explained on top of that. Leon had promptly declined and decided to just accept it as it was.

Once Cloud had removed his shirt and turned around, he placed his elbows on the counter, propped his head in his hands, and lifted an eyebrow at Leon as if to say, "Okay, now what?" Leon thought the whole effect was stunning: Cloud's strong back, that gorgeous wing, and the innocent mischief in his lover's expression. His arousal, which had faded slightly with all their preparations and dialogue, flared and twitched. Suddenly seriously turned on, he positioned himself behind Cloud and, instead of resuming his feather-petting, ran his tongue along the dark skin at the very top where no feathers connected.

Cloud sucked his breath in so fast that he nearly choked. Then, when Leon did it again, he moaned in such a way that Leon knew the other had gone from normal to achingly turned on in a matter of seconds. Leon smirked to himself, pleased that he had been right. He knew that the junction on Cloud's back drove the blond absolutely insane, so he had wondered if perhaps the ridge along the top would produce a similar reaction. Apparently, it did, slightly less intensely but still worth noting.

Slowly, Leon traced along the top of the wing with his tongue, stopping now and then to suck on it or leave a few kisses, but always moving towards Cloud's back. By the time he reached that special spot, Cloud was panting heavily, his fingers flexing against the countertop in mind-numbing need. Leon kissed the junction once, making sure to capture both dark and pale skin with his lips, and then pulled back. He had promised not to make Cloud beg, after all, and it sounded as if the blond were only a push or two away from that humiliation.

After flipping on the tap to get the water warming, Leon turned to the issue of clothing. He had rather wanted to screw Cloud while they both had most of their clothes on, but his inspiration regarding the wing had changed that idea. So Cloud would be mostly naked while Leon would be pretty much fully-clothed. He realized, as he slipped the fabric of Cloud's jeans over the curve of his backside, that that arrangement worked rather well with the comparison of Cloud to a Renaissance angel and Leon to just a normal man. As he leaned down to give that special spot one more quick kiss, he wondered just what he had done to deserve something so wonderful.

The water was warm but not hot when Leon wet his fingers down. He didn't bother with one finger but went straight to two, knowing from experience that the previous blowjob would have relaxed his lover considerably. This angle apparently suited Cloud well, for sooner than he thought he would be, Leon was unzipping himself and using the still-running water to make himself slick. And then he had one arm around Cloud's waist to steady him and was using the hand of the other to guide himself inside. Once he was all the way in, he paused for several heartbeats, allowing Cloud to enjoy that feeling of being filled; then he clamped both hands on his lover's hips and began fucking him into the counter, just like he had promised.

It was undoubtedly the roughest they had been with each other. As far as Leon's romance writer distinctions were concerned, this was definitely having sex and not making love. But it didn't matter anymore. Leon truly loved Cloud, and Cloud knew it and trusted him. All of the things that making love did to build trust and strengthen a relationship, they had already been done. Animal instincts and carnal desires were free to have their way since once they faded, the foundation of their relationship would still be there, strong and unyielding.

All of these things, Leon thought of after the fact. At the time, he was far too engrossed with the sensations that were raging through his body and taking over his brain. Cloud was so warm and willing, and his cries were so very high and out of control. Leon tried to keep some form of coherency in his mind; he really did. He tried to focus on finding the perfect rhythm and just the right angle to give his lover the most pleasure. Unfortunately, his own insane level of pleasure pried every last shred of control away from his mind. Some deep-rooted primal need took over his body and forced him to just slam into his lover over and over again. Cloud clearly didn't mind; judging from the sounds that escaped him at every thrust, he didn't need or want perfection. All he wanted was for Leon to fuck him absolutely senseless.

By the time he felt his orgasm approaching, rearing up like some great wave about to drown him, Leon was damn near growling with lust, the deep, guttural sound pushing from his throat every time he pushed into Cloud. The blond, in contrast, had gone almost silent. Needing to hear what little was coming from his love's lips, Leon moved closer to Cloud. His hands left the other man's hips and instead forced him to straighten up and lean back against Leon's body. One hand grabbed the blond's head and pushed it back against Leon's shoulder; the other yanked Cloud's hand away from his hot erection, replacing it back on the counter before moving back down and engulfing the hard flesh itself. Leon began to move again, thrusting and pumping to the same rhythm, spurred on by the gasps in his ear that were so quick and shallow that, had Leon not been screwing the poor blond's brains out, he would have worried that Cloud was hyperventilating.

Neither of them lasted much longer. Leon came first, and, even though he would have loved to have driven deep within Cloud and just stayed there until it passed, instead he used the delicious explosions occurring within him to thrust even faster and more forcefully. When Cloud's breathing stopped entirely a few seconds later and his whole body seized and shook, Leon pushed one last time and then simply held on for dear life.

When they were both leaning heavily against the counter and panting, Leon commented, "We should have sex in the kitchen more often."

"I agree," Cloud replied with a small chuckle. "I'm not going to be able to walk for a week."

"Ha, now you know how I felt."

"Yes, but I'd much rather be temporarily crippled by a dick up my ass than by a sword through my gut."

"Hell, if I had had the choice, I would have chosen that one, too."

After several minutes of quiet during which Leon pulled out and cleaned his lover up with paper towels, Cloud regarded the mess he had made of the counter. Eventually, he turned and said, "Leon?"

"Hmm?"

"How about we go out to dinner tomorrow?"

Leon just laughed.


End file.
